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This week’s R&D is on the war in Afghanistan.  In 2001, the United States helped the Northern Alliance overthrow Afghanistan’s Taliban regime due to the Taliban harboring 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.  Now, the United States is withdrawing its forces from the country and the Taliban has captured nearly a dozen of the country’s provincial capitals.  International observers question whether the Afghan government can fight on its own and worry about how a restored Taliban regime will treat the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and political dissidents.