Originally Posted by
melmothtw
It was precisely because the Taliban refused to give up Bin Laden that the US and its allies invaded.
Yes, except that was the invasion itself that welded the Taliban onto Al Qaeda.
Prior to the invasion Mullah Omar was under pressure to break ties with Al Qaeda.
The Talibans ambitions were and remain local , not global. Many in the Taliban were irritated by Bin Ladens campaign against the US. It was seen as a liability and a distraction.
The US could have handled it differently and peeled the Taliban off.
But that leaves the Taliban in charge.
It was a conundrum.
Twenty years later we are back where we started.