In a rare moment of frankness, Taliban leader Mullah Omar has issued a public message saying that keeping the United States in “the arduous war” in Afghanistan is a specific goal for his insurgency, and in that regard he seems to be having no small amount of success, as US officials openly discuss staying in the nation through 2015 and beyond.

Omar added that the Obama Administration’s December 2009 escalation has only increased the number of troops being killed in Afghanistan. It is hard to dispute this fact either, as the 2010 death toll is by far the worst of the war.

At the same time, Mullah Omar’s strategy shows a decided lack of an end game, as he seems every bit as contented to keep fighting the NATO occupation as NATO does to keep occupying the nation.

And Mullah Omar, like US officials before him, has claimed the other side’s willingness to give lip-service to peace talks proves his side is really winning. But it seems neither side is all that sincere in this willingness, and a peace deal seems as far off as ever. For the Afghans stuck in the middle of this endless war, it means yet more disastrous fighting.