Could we stop fighting the Taliban if we found out why they are doing what they are doing?

While some theorists in the field of International Relations feel that conflict occurs when people do not understand one another, I do not believe that they are correct.  I would argue that there are times when people can understand one another perfectly and can still come into conflict.  The situation with the Taliban in Afghanistan is one of these times.

The problem between us and the Taliban arises from the fact that their goals and...

While some theorists in the field of International Relations feel that conflict occurs when people do not understand one another, I do not believe that they are correct.  I would argue that there are times when people can understand one another perfectly and can still come into conflict.  The situation with the Taliban in Afghanistan is one of these times.

The problem between us and the Taliban arises from the fact that their goals and ours contradict one another.  There is no way for us to really get along because we each want something that would prevent the other side from having what it wants.  Right now, we want Afghanistan to have a democracy.  We want its democracy to honor the human rights of all people regardless of their religion or what sex they are.  We want their democracy to be friendly with us and our allies.  The Taliban want none of these things.  They do not really want democracy.  Instead, they want a theocracy in which their version of Islam writes the rules for society.  If their brand of Islam does not tell them to protect what we see as the human rights of women and non-Muslims, they will not protect their rights.  Since we are not interested in supporting a theocracy that believes what the Taliban believes, they are not interested in being our friends.  In short, everything that we want conflicts with things that they want and everything that we want conflicts with what they want.

In this situation, we cannot make things right simply by understanding what the Taliban want.  No matter how much we and they understand one another, we will still be in conflict because we want different things, things that are diametrically opposed to one another.  Therefore, I fear that you are wrong when you say that we and the Taliban could stop shooting one another if only we understood why they act as they do.  Peace between us would require one side or the other to give up the goals that it currently holds.