The Taliban Will Not Wait Out Washington's Endgame For Afghanistan

ANALYSIS-Afghan Taliban May Wait Out Washington's "Endgame" -- Reuters

KABUL, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Washington's hint of an Afghanistan endgame in saying U.S. troops won't still be there in 2017 might help win over a war-weary public, but there is no guarantee a notoriously patient Taliban won't just wait the Americans out.

Eight years is no short time, but setting a rough exit date could at least help U.S. President Barack Obama sell the idea of sending thousands more troops to join a war that has already lasted that long.

A resurgent Taliban may be a different matter.

"Time implications are very different for the Taliban and the West. For the Taliban, eight years is not a long time," Thomas Ruttig, co-director of independent research organisation Afghan Analysts Network, told Reuters.

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My Comment: The Taliban are not going to wait out the Americans. The Russians said the same thing 2 years before they eventually left in the 1980s .... the Mujaheddin responded by upping their operations against Soviet/Afghan forces.

I predict the same thing will happen in Afghanistan now. The Taliban .... knowing that U.S. forces will leave the country in the next few years .... will increase their operations and battle tactics against NATO/Afghan forces. This will guarantee that the Central Afghan Government will not be able to establish a grip on the country, nor will it permit Western forces to properly take the time and energy to train and equip an effective Afghan military. As for our Afghan allies, expect a stream of refugees to leave the country starting now.