Afghanistan proved the tougher nut to crack. Mr.Gorbachev proposed to withdraw this troops over a12-month period, which the Americans took as a small concession, but he refused to set a date for the pullout to start, which disappointed the President and his staff.阿富汗实为更难克服的困难。戈尔巴乔夫提议用一年时间完成撤军(美国认为是一项小小的让步), 但拒绝订定开始撤离的日期,令总统与他的幕僚感到失望。