Afghan government overcome the Taliban insurgency, while satisfying the Democratic Party's liberal base, which opposes the deployment of more troops. Gates explained the rationale for sending more forces on ABC's This Week, saying the Afghan-Pakistani border is the epicenter of extremist jihad. And al Qaeda has close relationships with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and they have very close relationships with the Taliban in Pakistan, Gates continued. The Taliban in Pakistan have been attacking Pakistani civilians, Pakistani government officials, military officials, trying to destabilize the government of Pakistan. Any success by the Taliban in either Afghanistan or Pakistan benefits al Qaeda, Gates said, adding that any safe haven on either side of the border creates opportunities for them to recruit, get new funds and do operational planning. And what's more, the Taliban revival in the safe havens in western Pakistan is a lesson to al Qaeda that they can come back, if they are provided the kind of safe haven that the Taliban were, Gates said. In addition, Gates warned on NBC's Meet the Press that U.S. casualties will probably continue to grow as troops take on Taliban strongholds. However, Gates rejected a comparison to the Soviet Union's decision in 1985 to send more troops to bolster its occupation of Afghanistan, which ended in failure less than two years later. The