U.S. May Rethink Talking To Taliban

U.S., NATO May Negotiate With Moderate Taliban Leaders As Afghan Situation Worsens

(CBS/AP)  When NATO defense ministers meet in Budapest on Thursday, they will face a worsening situation in Afghanistan and vexing questions about whether the war can be won.

Increasingly, military commanders and political leaders are asking: Is it time to talk to the Taliban?

With U.S. and NATO forces suffering their deadliest year so far in Afghanistan, a rising chorus of voices, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the incoming head of U.S. Central Command, have endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban considered willing to seek an accommodation with President Hamid Karzai's government.

"That is one of the key long-term solutions in Afghanistan, just as it has been in Iraq," Gates told reporters Monday. "Part of the solution is reconciliation with people who are willing to work with the Afghan government going forward."

Gen. David Petraeus, who will become responsible for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan as head of U.S. Central Command on Oct. 31, agreed.

"I do think you have to talk to enemies," Petraeus said Wednesday at an appearance at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, when asked about potential dialogue with the Taliban.

"You've got to set things up. You've got to know who you're talking to. You've got to have your objectives straight," he said. "But I mean, what we did do in Iraq ultimately was sit down with some of those that were shooting at us. What we tried to do was identify those who might be reconcilable."

In terms of Afghanistan, he said: "The key there is making sure that all of that is done in complete coordination with complete support of the Afghan government - and with President Karzai."

But entering negotiations with the Taliban raises difficult issues.

It is not clear whether there is a unified Taliban command structure that could engage in serious talks, and the group still embraces the hard-line ideology that made them pariahs in the West until their ouster from power in 2001.

During its 1996-2001 rule, Afghan women and girls were barred from attending school or holding jobs, music and television were banned, men were compelled to wear beards, and artwork or statues deemed idolatrous or anti-Muslim were destroyed.

In an assault that provoked an international outcry, Taliban fighters blew up two giant statues of Buddha that had graced the ancient Silk Road town of Bamiyan for some 1,500 years.

Seven years after the U.S. invasion, what was originally considered a quick military success has turned into an increasingly violent counterinsurgency fight.

An unprecedented number of U.S. troops - about 32,000 - are in Afghanistan today, and the Pentagon plans to send several thousand more in the coming months. Gates is expected to press for additional troops and money for the fight in Afghanistan at this week's NATO meeting.

At least 131 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan this year, surpassing the previous annual high of 111 in 2007. An additional 100 troops from other NATO nations have died in 2008.

Speaking in London on Monday, U.S. Gen. John Craddock, NATO's supreme operational commander, said he is open to talks with the Taliban as long as any peacemaking bid is led by the Afghan government, not Western forces.

"I have said over and over again this is not going to be won by military means," Craddock said, adding that NATO's goal is to create a safe environment so responsibility for security can be transferred to Afghan authorities.

The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, added his voice to the rising chorus, saying Tuesday it was "desirable" to have direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and offering to host any such meeting.

The problem, say some analysts, is identifying who within the Taliban can be a reliable negotiating partner.

"The Taliban are no longer a monolithic force; with whom do you negotiate if you want to talk with the Taliban?" asked Eric Rosenbach, executive director of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School.

Rather than high-level, high-profile negotiations, "the Afghan government should pursue talks with individual commanders and warlords" who have renounced violence, he said.

"This approach is much more likely to succeed, will further fracture the opposition, and will place the Afghan government in a position of strength for future negotiations."

Charles Heyman, editor of Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, said there is widespread agreement that the original U.S. and British goal of building a liberal, Western-style democracy in Afghanistan in not attainable because the Taliban never were routed or forced to disband.

"There is going to be an accommodation with the Taliban whether people like it or not," he said. "Everyone knows this is going to be very, very difficult."

He said the West's long-term interest would be served by ensuring that al Qaeda doesn't have a presence in Afghanistan. That would mean making sure any future Afghan leadership, even if it includes Taliban elements, understands that it will come under sustained attack if it allows al Qaeda to set up training camps there.

Ayesha Khan, an associate fellow at the Chatham House research group in London, said it is possible that clerics close to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar could meet with Afghan government representatives.

"This desire to engage the Taliban started last year and has gained momentum," she said. "The British government is involved in strategizing it. They are trying to separate the more moderate Taliban from the more extremist ones."

In Related News:

The U.S. military said Wednesday that U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan on Aug. 22 killed 33 civilians, far more than previously acknowledged. It expressed regret but blamed Taliban guerrillas who were targeted in the attack for having chosen to take up fighting positions near civilians.

A civilian toll of 33 compares with an original U.S. estimate of five to seven. The Afghan government and U.N. investigators contended 90 civilians died. In a summary of its findings from a detailed investigation, Central Command said 22 militants were killed in an assault that was launched on a village compound with the intent of killing or capturing an unnamed "high value individual."

[rhs648]

Viva Obama for promoting the policy of talking with the Enemy 1st.

Posted by lovegetpeace

Europe did that with Hitler. It was called appeasement. After that, Hitler invaded Europe. Great strategy that doesn''t work.

[kuei12]

"America should be very proud. Don%u2019t you think?"

Americans let this all happen. Too weak to fight a real war and too scared to speak up.
You know you lost a war when you want to "talk" with the enemy. "Preconditions" are what you set when you have the upper hand. Is McPalin too stupid to understand that or did she just have a new phrase she wanted to try out.

[guadalcanal3]

correction.."is"...a convenience store...

[guadalcanal3]

7/11 ia a convenience store....9/11 was a nightmare.

[joe68sg1]

Without pre-conditions?
McSame will not like this.
Didn''t I hear him say, just the other night, we can''t talk to anyone that does not already agree with us?

[inventagod2]

flip-flop...

[stevex47]

Maybe the one good thing bush has done. Getting Gates and Petraeus into those positions.

[jn122736]

Posted by jn122736 at 11:58 AM : Oct 09, 2008

7/11 is an inside job.
Posted by easeup at 12:40 PM : Oct 09, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, Service industry jobs at 7/11, McDonalds, and Wal-Mart are about all we have left, after Reagan started the republican cut taxes, borrow and spend policies; Except of course, all the jobs that have been outsourced to Asia, et al, plus a $10 trillion national debt and collapsed economy.

America should be very proud. Don%u2019t you think?

[dcitizen-2009]

Main Problem: The U.S. and U.S. media. The Taliban was an Islamic government that ruled Afghanistan after the U.S.S.R. was forced out. The Taliban was spun by Washington D.C. and U.S. media as an "enemy" of the U.S. after it told the Bush Administration it did not know where bin Laudin was; by fiat of Bush the Taliban as designated an enemy, so we bombed the the country, killed thousands of uninvolved civilians, replaced the Taliban with a puppet, Karzi, poured a $ billion+ taxpayer taxpayer dollars in, plus over 131 U.S. lives, and still haven''t found
bin Laudin. The U.S needs to get it''s head screwed on straight - regime change via military force, does not achieve legitimate objectives. The U.S. and Bush administration have a "spoiled brat" foreign policy and world view, it''s the Bush way or the highway. What has this view accomplished: it has cost the U.S. taxpayers real health care, good schools, employment, the disruption of the lives of our military families, over 4500 lives of our troops, 40,000 troops injured and maimed, and hate for the U.S. by the civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq
for the U.S. invasion of their homeland, lives and cultural values. The Brits appear to be waking up to reality, the Taliban is not the enemy, and the sooner here is an accord with them, the better for the people of Afghanistan.

[tannerbird]

The Republicans talk to [ANYONE] this is a new one the general will be on John McCain''s shi! list. yesterday the general was the man for the job but today he is shi! on a stick

[easeup-2009]

Posted by jn122736 at 11:58 AM : Oct 09, 2008

7/11 is an inside job.

[gangesdak]

No one ever won in Afghanistan in the last 2000 years or more. There is no shame in admitting it. I hope President Obama does not fall into it. And, regardless, he should fite that Petraeus, the prima donna.

[briannorwood]

Can you say "appeasement"?

[chris32324]

cant beat em,,join em

[jn122736]

There has never been any actual proof that Osama Bin Laden or Alqaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks, yet the Bush administration IMMEDIATELY placed the blame on them and proceeded to attack the Taliban controlled government in Afghanistan.
However, they immediately abandoned the search for Bin Laden, even taking steps to prevent the military from capturing/killing him, and carried out the invasion of Iraq, which had been planned long before 9/11.

The following are known facts about 9/11:
There was plenty of time between the first and second tower strikes to have prevented the second, but NO effort was made to do so.
Although no skyscraper had ever collapsed for this reason, both towers collapsed, allegedly due to the resulting fires.
The third tower collapse was blamed on fire caused by falling debris from the first two.

In order to carry out the pre planned Iraq invasion, a second %u201Cpearl Harbor%u201D was needed to gain the necessary approval from congress.

The following is a logical, and highly probable, scenario:
All three towers were preset with lower level explosives to bring them down.
The hijacked plane forced down by passengers in PA, could have been intended for the third tower, the preset explosives had to be detonated
Some people in power either planned, or were complicit in the planning, in order to prevent any interference with the planes and to successfully install and conceal the explosives.

[jamster31]

It sounds good to talk but i think it''s a waste of time. i don''t think the taliban are going to adjust their religion to accomodate the government.

Wow - Republicans talking to terrorists.
What will our fundamentalist warrior princess sarah-cuda say?

[dburfears]

Gates and Petraeus tell McCain he is WRONG.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, have endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban. "I do think you have to talk to enemies," Petraeus said Wednesday at an appearance at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, when asked about potential dialogue with the Taliban.

Looks like John McCain needs to stop criticizing Obama for calling for talks, just like Petraeus and Gates are.

[hotpaulie]

Are you kidding me???? We gotta stay the course...we cant talk to our enemies!!! We are turning another corner...THANKS BUSH AND ALL YOU LOYAL REPUBLICAN RETARDS FOR SUPPORTING THIS NONSENSE!!! YOU ARE GONNA GET WHAT YOU DESERVE COME NOVEMBER WHEN EVERY REPUBLICAN YOU VOTE FOR GETS WHIPPED!!!

[lovegetpeace]

Folks,
Do not worry...

USSR quit Afghanistan after 13 years of trying everything under the Sun and then filed for Chapter 13.

The USA got 6 more depressing years to go before quitting and filing for chapter 13 (Great Depression).

So, please be patience :-) and continue to purchase large quantity of Heroin so the Talibans and Al-Qaeda can support their Afgan families.