TWO FUTURES: Whether Afghanistan can survive and prosper without the presence of thousands of American and international troops and contractors hinges on two unknowns — the ability of the 300,000-strong U.S.-trained and equipped government forces to forestall a Taliban takeover and the willingness of the Taliban to give up their brutal tactics in return for peace and a role in the future government.

“We must not assume the inevitability of a worse-case outcome,” testified Zalmay Khalilzad at a marathon session of the House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday, where the U.S. point man in negotiations with the Taliban argued the group, like the country, has changed over the past 20 years.