WASHINGTON - The spike in firepower coincides with a Trump administration policy, dating to 2016 [sic], that gives military commanders greater authority to attack Taliban and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan.

"The logic [sic] is that the Taliban may be more likely to agree to a peace deal [sic] acceptable to the United States and the Afghan government if the Taliban believe they can't win the war in Afghanistan," said Seth Jones, a defense [sic] analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former adviser to the special operations commander in Afghanistan. ...