For the United States to end its longest war and bring the troops home from Afghanistan, it must negotiate and cooperate with the leaders of the Taliban, the most powerful and stable political power in that nation.
That's a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that the Taliban harbored Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida operation leading up to the attacks of 9/11. And it feels like a retreat, not just from conflict but from honor and decency, too, because the Taliban brutalized Afghanistan with civilian massacres, human trafficking and a systematic revocation of the rights of women while it governed from 1996 until 2001.
In a complicated and vicious world, the United States can justify negotiating with Taliban leaders if the partnership is in the pursuit of a greater good, and if it motivates these despots toward better behavior. But it cannot honor their involvement in the process before they have delivered on a single promise, especially with the blood of just-killed Americans still on their hands and the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks occurring this week.
