This is a senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy's.

He is a senior fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy.

He and his colleagues keep the

Long War Journal. We turn to the Taliban now in charge. We're told of

Afghanistan, certainly of Kabul in some fashion, though there are reported eight

al-Qaeda training camps throughout Afghanistan. The focus for the last week has been ISIS, which here to four has been presented as an adversary of the Taliban.

But there's reason to believe, Bill, that ISIS is a useful tool of the Taliban. How does it work?

So the Islamic State and the Taliban as well as al-Qaeda, but the Taliban and al-Qaeda all being in the same camp, their enemies, without a doubt.

There's differences in their approach to the management of jihad.

The Islamic State wants the Taliban and every other group to swear allegiance to

their Red Mirror and follow their orders. The Taliban wants to rule Afghanistan. Al Qaeda in their case case they play well with others including the

Taliban they don't demand field tea from the groups that they work with.

Al Qaeda itself is defined as the base of the jihad, so the support, right?

So they are enemies, however, there are elements of the Islamic State that there's a lot of suspicion amongst some analysts

myself included that at times they do collude.

This is probably more on a personal level when it comes to you know individuals who are probably former members of the

Taliban or al-Qaeda that can be that are susceptible some might be being pressured

to do so it depends there's various degrees but at times they will cooperate to

conduct a tax but that's I would say is the exception as opposed to the norm

you see on a day in a day out basis the Taliban and the Islamic State do fight

in each other in Afghanistan again because the the Islamic State wants the the Taliban to assume itself to its leadership.

All right, we move from the ISIS which is necessarily fog of war.

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