system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What is the difference between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda?
gpt
The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are two very similar organizations in their origins, but they are distinct from one another in their goals and mission.

The history of the two dates back to the Soviet war in Afghanistan during the 1980's. An organization called the Mujaheddin was created as a rebellion against the Soviet puppet regime in Afghanistan. This organization was financed and supplied by the United States under the Reagan administration. Following the withdrawal of the USSR from Afghanistan, the Mujaheddin failed to create a united government in Afghanistan, and the organization disbanded into several different factions. 

A man named Mohammed Omar created a new extremist political movement out of the ashes of the once united Mujaheddin called the Taliban. The Taliban went on to fight their way into power in Afghanistan, established a regime, and the rest is history. 

Meanwhile, over in Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden began recruiting Mujaheddin fighters and other extremists to expand the mission and operations of the Mujaheddin across other fronts of Islamic fundamentalist fighting around the world. Eventually, Al-Qaeda sought refuge in Afghanistan and became closely aligned with the operations of the Taliban, but the two remained affiliated but distinct organizations. Al-Qaeda continued to expand their operations, and today have closely affiliated extremist organizations in places all over the world which makes Al-Qaeda a pretty expansive and powerful organization, even though the base organization has been largely weakened as a result of the 2001 War in Afghanistan.

Thus, the biggest difference between the two organizations comes down to the focus of their missions. The Taliban is largely focused on what happens domestically in Afghanistan, while Al-Qaeda is more concerned with forwarding their ideology on a more global scale.