James B. Cunningham: “They want us out. They will be willing to do what is necessary to get us out.”

I do not think there is a strategy of attrition or withdrawal that will work in any timeframe that we would want to see, certainly.

A flawed deal on withdrawal of U.S. forces--one not grounded in the context of an actual peace agreement--risks the collapse of Afghanistan into chaos.

Our efforts there must be long term and in concert with the need for the United States to help develop and implement a generational strategy to defend our people and values.

The test will be whether Pakistan takes concrete actions not only to support reconciliation, but to reduce the ability of the Taliban and the Haqqani network to plan and launch operations from Pakistan.