No ‘Good Options’ Left for U.S. as Emboldened Taliban Threatens Afghan Elections by Ben Wolfgang - Washington Times
The collapse of peace talks in Afghanistan has left the U.S. with few military options as intense fighting resumes, while the near complete lack of public and political support for an influx of ground troops means the Trump administration must search for new ways to put pressure back onto the Taliban.
Although President Trump and Pentagon leaders have promised to increase strikes against Taliban targets after the collapse of diplomatic negotiations this month, private analysts say the U.S. has limited tools at its disposal and has exhausted most military avenues to defeat the radical Islamist movement on the battlefield. A ramped-up air campaign against the Taliban and al Qaeda is already underway, but there is real doubt about whether that strategy will have a tangible impact on the Taliban’s political calculus.
Questions about the way forward have been raised as Afghans brace for a presidential election this weekend that could ignite a fresh wave of violence. Taliban leaders have threatened to target polling places ahead of the contest, in which President Ashraf Ghani is seeking a second term in a race against more than a dozen opponents.
Prominent Afghans, including former President Hamid Karzai, have called for the elections to be put on hold until the U.S.-backed government in Kabul can find a way to make at least temporary peace with the Taliban, which now controls more Afghan territory than at any other point since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks…