Taliban fear no one

I don't suppose the Taliban give Donald Trump a moment's thought. They're in the middle of their fighting season, creating havoc, destroying their country and terrifying the locals. They won't be worrying about what Trump's going to do. Frankly, if he does decide to send a few more thousand troops to Afghanistan it's not going to make such a difference that they will say: "Ok, we give up, let's talk peace, fighting is over." Actually, I don't believe they will ever say that, whatever anyone does. But it's interesting isn't it? Trump came to power vowing to eliminate Isis, take on Kim Jong-un, be tough with the Chinese and support Brexit. Do any of those pledges actually mean anything? During the election campaign, he never mentioned the Taliban or Afghanistan other than admitting it was a bad thing. Deep down, he probably thinks, what the hell are we doing in this ghastly country, nobody cares about Afghanistan, al-Qaeda aren't important anymore, so let's call it a day. But being president is more complicated than that. He HAS to think of what can be done. The trouble is, I don't think anyone has the answer, certainly not the Afghans, and certainly not Europe which is sick of Afghanistan although never says so. Trump has to come up with something sensible but I seriously doubt he will. In the end he will give in to his military advisers and send off a few plane-loads of troops for a few months. Or perhaps he will fire off a few Tomahawk cruise missiles, like he did against Syrian regime forces. Not that that will achieve anything. It didn't achieve much in Syria. That brief flurry of Trump anger is all forgotten now, and the war goes on. Afghanistan and Syria are both issues of despair. Perhaps they will go on for ever, or for another 100 years or so, with Trump and all of his successors failing to find a solution. Afghanistan and Syria will join the list of unwinnable challenges, like the Israel/Palestine question. Everything has been tried and everything has failed.