The U.S. is unable to win its 17 year old conflict in Afghanistan.
After the coalition of U.S. led forces ended combat operations in 2014, U.S. troops, along with other nations, began to withdraw a majority of their forces. Afghanistan appeared to go quiet. Then in 2017 the Taliban made a resurgence. In 2017, there was a 35% increase of casualties for Afghan security forces compared to 2016. In 2017 Trump declared the redeployment of thousands of more troops to Afghanistan.
In 2018, the situation got much worse. The Taliban have launched major attacks all across Afghanistan. The Taliban now hold the most amount of territory since they dominated the country in 2001. The U.S. has dropped more bombs this year than any other year of the war. With limited amounts of U.S. troops, the Afghan forces are overstretched and unable to deal with the
Taliban attacks as Afghan troops withdraw from entire provinces. In November the Afghan special forces lost 30 commandos to a Taliban attack. The Afghan security forces also carry out insider attacks on U.S. forces. One Afghan insider attack almost killed an American general. U.S. casualties reached 26 fatalities this year.
The U.S. in now pursuing peace since it is unable to bring its 17 year old war to an end. The Taliban and Afghan government had talks in Moscow in November. New talks are currently underway between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The talks, however, may not reach a peaceful conclusion considering that they are being rushed by the U.S.
