Is there a viable solution to the Afghan problem?

Let the international community and the regional powers that have high stakes in Afghanistan try something new — reconciliation among various Afghan groups, including what passes for the government there. For the last 35 years, the Afghans, regional players and the great powers, all have employed one familiar policy — using armed forces, supporting their favourite warring factions and intervening to bolster a weak government that has little public support. Nothing of this sort has worked in the past, nor will it in the future.