People really need to quit talking about the Taliban, they aren't the center of the issue. The main threat in afghanistan are the independent cells of Afghani's who want us out, for one reason or another. There are groups like the Taliban and Al Qaeda who purposely arm these groups out of a common enemy in NATO, but the Taliban itself, as a pseudo religious organization that operates more like an Afghani mafia, are not even close to the majority of the boots on the ground. They pay the poor to set IED's and fire RPG's at our convoys, they arm independent anti-coalition militias, things like that.. But they aren't the primary source of combatants and trouble in Afghanistan, this is a common misconception of many people, and the press. If any engagement happens, it's immediately assumed that they were a part of the Taliban.
And that's what makes it hard to defeat them, there's no central leadership to negotiate with, it's just a bunch of localized militias that don't have much intel on eachother or cooperation who are united purely in the objective of making us leave.
well that is true.
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.