I just read an article in Foreign Affairs last night called, "How to Flip the Taliban" by Fotini Christa & Michael Semple. They speak about Afghan history in which traditionally Afghan fighters tend to side with the winner in war time. Likewise, that we could easily do the same in our present situation by sitting down with the Taliban and talking about the current issues in Afghanistan. Likewise, giving leaders an opportunity to voice their opinion, and supporting cooperation between factions. However, it would seem that the U.S. is sticking with it's big stick type policy rather than having rational conversation and discussing grievances. I thought the article posed some interesting points.