By Bill Roggio, FDD's Long War Journal: “Based on the U.S. military’s own statistics, the Taliban has had success: nearly half of the districts in Afghanistan are controlled or contested by the Taliban.”
By Sudha Ratan, The Diplomat: “The Trump Administration is supportive of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s call for talks with the Taliban in order to bring peace to Afghanistan. Russia, Iran and China have also reached out to the group. The interest in talking to the Taliban is partly the result of concerns about the Islamic State in Afghanistan.”