Ten years and tens of thousands of deaths later, with the Taliban resurgent, U.S. officials initiated a series of desultory peace talks that petered out in 2012. “He was a dealmaker.”It was Mansour’s risk-taking mentality that likely led him to sign off on preliminary talks with U.S. and Afghan officials in February 2016. In meetings with foreign delegations, Taliban officials admitted they had made errors when they were in power, voiced support for the education of girls and insisted that they did not want to be international pariahs. ‘Wheels up’For much of the war, the United States has tried to use military force to batter the Taliban into taking part in peace talks. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)U.S. contacts with Taliban officials, though significantly curtailed, have not ceased.

Source: Washington Post March 24, 2018 22:39 UTC