On its face, the U.S. diplomatic strategy toward the Taliban makes no sense. The State Department massaged the Taliban’s test of sincerity by demanding a cessation of violence prior to snow melts that mark the start of the traditional fighting season. It kept annexes to its agreement secret. It failed to address the Pakistan problem. And, when the Taliban broke the commitments it made to the United States, it obfuscated, and Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad likely lied.

Now, it seems the reason both for secrecy and the willingness to excuse the Taliban’s transgression is becoming clear: Multiple sources say Khalilzad has reportedly argued that the U.S. can find common ground with the Taliban in the fight against the Islamic State, which is sinking its roots into Afghanistan. There is some precedent for this sort of dealing: In 2014, the Obama administration embraced a de facto alliance with Iran to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and, of course, in the early 1980s, the Reagan administration worked with sociopathic warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar against the Red Army.