Politico features a recently released report by Zalmay Khalilzad Chair on Afghanistan and Resident Senior Fellow James B. Cunningham, outlining why the United States and NATO should maintain troops levels in Afghanistan around current levels:
Although Afghanistan has made significant strides since the U.S. invasion of 2001, so have Taliban insurgents. The militant group, which ruled the country until the Americans ousted it, recently briefly captured Kunduz, a major Afghan city in the north, before being driven out by U.S.-backed Afghan troops. At the same time, there are reports that the Islamic State is gaining ground in Afghanistan, and that its brutality is even shocking some Taliban.