Slap:

Seems to me that Kissinger to Brezinski were who I studied in policy classes. Right. Very mixed results.

Wasn't it Zbig who had the great idea to lure the Soviets into Afghanistan, and laid the foundation for the Taliban, and their later activities?

Fuchs:

You forgot to mention that the Taliban are the AFGHAN folks who opened the door for AQ.

As you point out, the Diminishing Returns/Escalating Costs of ZERO Taliban means one hell of a lot of dead Afghan "brothers," sons and fathers. Not a great strategy, in the end, for winning Pashtun hearts and minds.

I, for one, would leave Kiss/Zbig out of the equation for a bit while I tried to gather solutions from Generals, Majors, and Walking Men (Rory Stewart, etc..). Anybody but the wise old hands that created much of this.