COMMENT As President Obama decides future American strategy in Afghanistan, never has the US understood a wartime adversary less than now. Even after eight years of war and countless re-assessments, we have remarkably little insight into the mindset of the Taliban themselves.
The course of future American policy, let alone success, depends on understanding our enemy’s motives. Will al-Qaeda regain bases in Afghanistan if the Taliban return to power? Or could an American withdrawal be conditional on the Taliban severing support for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda?
