if the taliban will ever be willing to negotiate. >> narrator: young commanders like mullah yunus have risen to positions of power because of the kill/capture campaign. they appear to have little interest in making peace. those close to the us military acknowledge there's a danger that the kill/capture campaign may radicalize the taliban, but, they say, it's worth the risk. >> many of them are more extreme, which makes it harder to negotiate with them, but it also makes them sloppier. they haven't had as much time on thbattlefield, and so i'm sure they would much prefer us to turn off the kill/capture machine in order to maintain the capacity they have and build a strong mid-level leadership. that's something they don't have, and i don't think they're ever going to get back, and that's a fact that they are still coming to terms with. >> narrator: us commanders argue that, for now, kill/capture is a crucial part of a wider counterinsurgency campaign that is starting to roll back the taliban. >> we are seeing progress for the first time in many years. our assessment is that we have