The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of the Taliban

<p>President Trump is pushing the military to accelerate the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, all but guaranteeing a major place for the Taliban in the country’s future.</p><p>As a child, Mujib Mashal lived through the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Now a senior correspondent there for The New York Times, he has for years reported on the extremist group and, more recently, has covered the progress of peace talks.</p><p>In this episode of “The Daily,” he shares memories of his childhood and tales from his reporting, and reflects on whether a peaceful resolution is possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>Guest: Mujib Mashal, senior correspondent in Afghanistan for The New York Times. </p><p><br /></p><p>We want to hear from you. Fill out our survey about The Daily and other shows at: <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedailysurvey?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedailysurvey</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedaily </a></p><p><br /></p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>President Trump is expected to order the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/us/politics/trump-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-somalia-iraq.html" target="_blank"> U.S. military to withdraw thousands of troops</a> from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia by the time he leaves office in January.</li><li>The<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/world/asia/taliban-afghanistan-war.html" target="_blank"> Taliban have outlasted a superpower</a> through nearly 19 years of grinding war and now stand on the brink of realizing their most fervent desire:<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/world/asia/afghanistan-troop-withdrawal.html" target="_blank"> U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan</a>. They have given up little of their extremist ideology to do it.</li><li>Children of men who played key roles in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s are on both sides of the<a href="https://www.nytimes.c