WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say the latest intelligence community take on the war in Afghanistan concludes the Taliban remains committed to taking back Afghanistan by force and may only be paying lip service to nascent peace talks with NATO.
Two current and one former U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the classified Afghan National Intelligence Estimate. The latest report declares the war at a stalemate, with NATO security gains far outweighed by corruption at all levels of Afghan government. Last year's report had similar findings about the war.
The report also finds special operations raids and programs to bolster local Afghan security are somewhat effective in degrading the Taliban, but it returns as soon as NATO forces withdraw from an area. The report was summarized in multiple media outlets.
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