“The American government is hard-pressed to show the American public that they have achieved something” ahead of the midterm congressional elections next week and President Obama’s war review in December, said a senior Pakistani intelligence official. “All this is primarily about that.”

Another high-ranking security official cautioned that the Americans must be careful that their “desperate push to produce results . . . does not become strategically unacceptable to our side. We cannot be insignificant in this war. If somebody is trying to keep us out and is striving for sustainable peace, good luck to them.”…

Aftab Khan Sherpao, a former Pakistani interior minister, attended a series of talks this month between Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Abu Dhabi, where they discussed a range of topics, including dealing with the Taliban. He said the Taliban is not losing resolve in the face of an accelerated NATO campaign.

“The impression in the Taliban circles is that since now the Americans want to leave, what is the point in talking to them?” Sherpao said. “This is a point of time where they haven’t lost anything and in fact morale is higher.”