Taliban celebrates U.S. 'defeat' in Afghanistan

Victory, it seems, is in the eye of the spinmasters. A day after the U.S. and its NATO allies ceremonially ended the 13-year war in Afghanistan, the Taliban celebrated America's "defeat."

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force "rolled up its flag in an atmosphere of failure and disappointment without having achieved anything substantial or tangible," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. About 13,000 NATO troops will remain in Afghanistan to train Afghan police and military personnel, but "the demoralized American-built forces will constantly be dealt defeats just like their masters," Mujahid said.

The Taliban has stepped up its attacks as NATO has wound down its military mission, but the U.S. and its allies say that the Afghan security forces have been able to prevent the Taliban from making any significant territorial gains.

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