"The US may be in Afghanistan longer than Iraq."
This is what my son thinks is likely. He feels that from what he sees there now, if we pull out any time soon, conditions will revert to what they were before.
As to how there can be so many Taliban, in addition to the thousands who are living in Quetta and other cross border Pakistan areas, there are also a number living in Afg. rural areas. My son feels a lot of this is fighting to preserve access to the opium trade and the money it brings. This would be used for armaments, and to help bring in the terrorists who are fleeing from Iraq and still want Jihad. He says the Afg. National Army burns the opium fields quite regularly and with pleasure.