It’s not just that the Taliban hold all the cards in this game. Biden doesn’t even want to play. He’s made U.S. national security contingent on the Taliban’s ability to act like a “normal” government and not a terrorist crazy state. Earlier this week, CIA director William Burns met in secret with Taliban chief Abdul Ghani Baradar. According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post, “Burns was delivering a personal message from Biden, who evidently has decided his best course for now is to cooperate with the former adversary.”

Former? When did the Taliban renounce their hatred of America — or their allegiance to al-Qaeda?

They haven’t. Yet Biden and his foreign policy team dangled in front of the Taliban the carrot of financial assistance and international legitimacy in exchange for cooperation on counterterrorism and regional stability. As for sticks, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen crashed the Afghan financial system and economy two weeks ago when she froze Afghan government reserves in U.S. banks. The Taliban are broke. They haven’t quelled the resistance in Panjshir Valley. Which is why they’re negotiating with Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah to establish a government that would cross the threshold for renewed foreign aid and participation in global markets.