A Pentagon spokesperson remarked that the Afghan government “should just take the fight to the Taliban… they have the advantages. They have better capabilities than the Taliban in the air and on the ground. And they are certainly going to continue to have American support financially, logistically and through assistance in maintenance”. “It really is going to come down to an internal leadership decision there, politically and militarily, to take advantage of those gains and those benefits”, he added. The spokesperson also maintained that “The Taliban have said publicly that they want to return to the table, that they want to contribute to a political process, and a peaceful solution here… Unfortunately in places around the country that’s not what we’re seeing them act on. They’ve said they want to make that commitment, we’d like to see them follow through on that commitment”.