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Islam tells us every girl and boy should be educated. I don't know why the Taliban have forgotten it.

We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened.

It is very clear that the people in Afghanistan do not want the Taliban back.

The draconian prohibitions of the Taliban years and the gains Afghan women have achieved since the Taliban government was overthrown in 2001 are now well known and often cited: Today, Afghans lucky enough to live in secure regions can go to school, women may work in offices, and the burqa is no longer mandatory.

If we can't understand the Afghan family, we can't understand Afghanistan.

Perhaps we underestimated the challenges in Afghanistan in the past. That's why we are now strengthening and intensifying our commitment.

Talking to the Taliban is a process the Afghans have to manage. It is their country.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. Security issue or no security issue, there would need to be a focus on it.

The existence of the Taliban, in my view, is a tragedy for Afghanistan. We as Americans need to understand our role in helping bring that tragedy about. So I think it's important to look at the stories about why these people are fighting.

Afghanistan is a rural nation, where 85 percent of people live in the countryside. And out there it's very, very conservative, very tribal - almost medieval.