Taliban in Afghanistan: returning to power or path to nowhere?

Here is a rather good article on the history of Afghanistan war in 1978-2010. Helps to see how it all happened.
http://www.eastwest-review.com/article/taliban-afghanistan-returning-power-or-path-nowhere-part-1 and http://www.eastwest-review.com/article/taliban-afghanistan-returning-power-or-path-nowhere-part-2