This is my answer to this Question on https://www.quora.com/profile/Desmond-Last
A recognition that the Taliban will never be defeated is an absolute prerequisite for an end to the Conflict in Afghanistan.
Nothing ever stays the same the only constant being a state of change and that applies to the Taliban as much as it does to anybody else.
The Taliban now control 40 per cent of Afghanistan. They have a civil justice system, schools and a health system. They even have a Climate Change Policy. They know that to be a credible Governing Body they must accept social justice in all its many forms.
They also control and have always controlled the mountains. The military Holy Grail in any battlefield is the high ground and it is a military reality that some in the Senior American Military need to remind themselves about.
Over 1.5 million civilians and military personnel have died in Afghanistan since 1979. Now another 4000 American Soldiers are on their way to a land that has given them nothing and taken everything. They will face a battle-hardened Taliban who have not stopped fighting for nearly 40 years – that is a lot of experience
Both Russia and China are talking to the Taliban. China manages to duck every hard decision instead leaving it for American Soldiers to die. China have the Taliban protecting their mineral interests in Afghanistan.
The Taliban do not want ISIS in Afghanistan and neither does President Trump. That is a common ground and one which President Trump should consider as a potential starting point for Peace negotiations.
The Taliban want Peace. If it is to be achieved it is down to one man – President Trump. That is the only way there will ever be Peace – when America accepts the reality of a Taliban who will never give up.
That does not mean giving Afghanistan to the Taliban on a plate. The Taliban cannot force their people to accept them. They too must face the reality that to be part of the World they must allow people to decide for themselves their fate. Just as God has and does.
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