Behind the foreign secretary's assurances that this will not be a war without end is the admission that defeating the Taliban is not realistic - hence the drive for reconciliation. While political solutions are welcome, many questions remain unanswered. Why would the British and others expect deals with the Taliban and other insurgents to stick? Why would they expect such people, if given positions of power, to respect the rights of Afghans, particularly women?

The Obama administration should revise its detention policies in Afghanistan to make them consistent with international law.

As Afghanistan's elections draw to a shambolic finale, it is time for President Obama to end his policy review and breathe hope into Afghanistan's bleak landscape.

The young woman from Kandahar sat with me in the office of an independent monitoring group two days before Afghanistan’s August 20th presidential election. Halima had defied her family and threats from neighbors in the tumultuous southern region to work as an election observer and to vote.

When the United States and its allies went to war against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, "liberating the women of Afghanistan" was often cited as one of the reasons to seek "regime change." More than seven years later, however, the situation for Afghan women remains dire.

Afghans continue to have significant human rights concerns about the preparation and plans for the upcoming presidential election on August 20, 2009.

Afghanistan’s influential international supporters should insist that President Hamid Karzai act to amend the notorious law that formalizes discrimination against Shia women.

Politicians want a way out of this quagmire. So talking to the Taliban is back on the table, a discussion that quickly leads to clumsy distinctions about varieties of Taliban.