Does the Taliban exist?

I was just watching the news, they are talking about how a soldier has been killed, and are talking about the Taliban.

I am wondering, if the Taliban actually exist.

If you look at the footage on youtube, you can see night vision helicopters killing people from miles away, picking them off like flies, and all kinds of high tech killing machines in use.

After a decade of being attacked by some of the most powerful armies in the world, after all the killing, all the carpet bombing, I am starting to wonder if the Taliban are still alive, if they are real.

They were originally depicted as a small group of maniacs that were distorting the religion of Islam to get what they wanted.

If that is the case, I am wondering how they are not all dead yet. Part of me suspects, that there is no such thing as the Taliban anymore, just pissed off people who get called Taliban by us and our media when they fight back.

What is actually going on? is there a Taliban? or is that just what we are calling the people who oppose our troops being in their country?

Are the Taliban real? is there actually an organization with central leadership, that is organized in fighting us? and if so, when are we going to admit that we underestimated them and their numbers?

Is it a case of new people joining each time a member of the Taliban is killed, thus taking their place and making up the numbers?

Is the organization growing? or is it all just a big straw man at this point?