combined with bin laden's death could open up room for negotiations by the end of the year. wolf? >> chris lawrence at the pentagon, thank you. let's dig deep other this important question. joining me are -- cnn national security analyst peter gatheringen. and fran town sends. fran serves on the homeland security and cia external advisory boards. peter, with bin laden gone, where does it leave the taliban in afghanistan? >> this is a tremendous opportunity for the taliban to do something they haven't done in the last ten years which is reject bin laden, reject al qaeda and say 9/11 was a bad idea. if we don't hear from that, from the taliban, i think skepticism about reconciliation process is well deserved. i am personally quite skeptical. omar had a lot of opportunities to save it. things we want him to say. and he hasn't. >> the leader of the taliban. isn't he lied something place in pakistan now? he is not in afghanistan. >> right. hiding in pakistan. that doesn't prevent him from saying i reject bin laden and his works. >> he can still be operational