After failing to obtain the release of three U.S. prisoners from Taliban custody using the ‘carrot’ method, U.S. leaders suddenly appear prepared to deploy the stick.

On Feb. 13, Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council Sebastian Gorka noted on X, “we will not rest until Dennis Coyle and Mahmood Habibi come home.” This was a stark change from his statement last August that the Taliban were “moderately cooperative counterterrorism partners.”

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It might reflect a toughening of administration policy toward the Taliban.

On Feb. 12, U.S. delegates drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. sanctions monitoring team for an additional year. The decision will maintain sanctions, which include travel bans, arms embargoes, and asset freezes, against Taliban entities. Though some Taliban leaders had previously received travel ban exemptions, not all exemptions were reportedly renewed. Explaining this resolution, the United States cited the Taliban’s........

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