Afghan Unrest, Taliban Attacks Leave Lawmakers Pessimistic

House Foreign Affairs Committee lawmakers expressed pessimism Wednesday over an increasingly fragmented Afghan government's ability to combat Taliban fighters.

Committee chairman Ed Royce (R., Calif.) asked Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, if the Taliban were at all interested in a political settlement with Afghanistan, while ranking member Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.) sought an answer for the mixed signals from the White House on U.S. negotiations with the Taliban.

"If we can talk to Kim Jong Un, certainly we can talk to the Taliban," Engel said.

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