Petraeus: Taliban Have Reached Out to Reconcile
Top Taliban leaders have made overtures to reconcile with the Afghan government, the top commander in Afghanistan said Monday.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has long said that he will talk to insurgents if they renounce violence, sever ties to terrorists and embrace the Afghan constitution. Publicly, the Taliban have said they won't negotiate until foreign troops leave Afghanistan, yet there are many indications that backdoor discussions have occurred.
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"There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and indeed have done that," Gen. David Petraeus told reporters after touring a U.S. detention center near Bagram Air Field - the main American base in the country.
Reconciling with Taliban leaders is being "pursued by the Afghan leadership at the very highest levels," Petraeus said.
"President Karzai's conditions have been very clear, they're very established and certainly we support that, as we did in Iraq, as the United Kingdom did in Northern Ireland," Petraeus said. "This is the way you end insurgencies."
While opposed by some factions within Afghanistan, talking with the Taliban is gaining traction as thousands of U.S. and NATO reinforcements seek to reverse the insurgents' momentum. Neighboring Pakistan and other nations are beginning to stake out their positions on possible reconciliation negotiations that could mean an endgame to the nearly 9-year-old war.
Presidential spokesman Waheed Omar said Karzai was waiting until after he announces the members of his High Council for Peace before initiating any formal talks. That announcement could occur as early as this week.
"For the past couple of years we have had signals from different levels of Afghan Taliban wanting to reconnect with the government," Omar said. "We haven't had anything formal as yet."
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reports NATO has confirmed the gesture and that the move is significant in two ways: it is part of Karzai's big idea to get Taliban back into the fold of Afghan society and NATO forces believe that it's a sign that Taliban insurgents are weakening because they are reaching out to the Afghan government.
In an interview with The Associated Press and other news agencies in late August, Petraeus said that Karzai's efforts to reconcile with top Taliban leaders were "beyond the surface, but they are certainly in the early stages."
"He is the one who is pursuing this, but there have been some ways that we have facilitated some of the contact," Petraeus said.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has long said that he will talk to insurgents if they renounce violence, sever ties to terrorists and embrace the Afghan constitution. Publicly, the Taliban have said they won't negotiate until foreign troops leave Afghanistan, yet there are many indications that backdoor discussions have occurred.
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"There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and indeed have done that," Gen. David Petraeus told reporters after touring a U.S. detention center near Bagram Air Field - the main American base in the country.
Reconciling with Taliban leaders is being "pursued by the Afghan leadership at the very highest levels," Petraeus said.
"President Karzai's conditions have been very clear, they're very established and certainly we support that, as we did in Iraq, as the United Kingdom did in Northern Ireland," Petraeus said. "This is the way you end insurgencies."
While opposed by some factions within Afghanistan, talking with the Taliban is gaining traction as thousands of U.S. and NATO reinforcements seek to reverse the insurgents' momentum. Neighboring Pakistan and other nations are beginning to stake out their positions on possible reconciliation negotiations that could mean an endgame to the nearly 9-year-old war.
Presidential spokesman Waheed Omar said Karzai was waiting until after he announces the members of his High Council for Peace before initiating any formal talks. That announcement could occur as early as this week.
"For the past couple of years we have had signals from different levels of Afghan Taliban wanting to reconnect with the government," Omar said. "We haven't had anything formal as yet."
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reports NATO has confirmed the gesture and that the move is significant in two ways: it is part of Karzai's big idea to get Taliban back into the fold of Afghan society and NATO forces believe that it's a sign that Taliban insurgents are weakening because they are reaching out to the Afghan government.
In an interview with The Associated Press and other news agencies in late August, Petraeus said that Karzai's efforts to reconcile with top Taliban leaders were "beyond the surface, but they are certainly in the early stages."
"He is the one who is pursuing this, but there have been some ways that we have facilitated some of the contact," Petraeus said.
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In 2007 commentators were saying that Iraq was hopeless. By the end of 2008 we had effectively won the war. We're seeing the same pattern here with violence going up just before the eventual end of the insurgency as an effective military/political force.
----1. In the Quran Read (Kill Non-Believers). Sutra 9:5, 9:3, and 9:29 of the Koran effectively commands Muslims to kill the non-believers
----2. Democracy and Imposing Sharia Law). Sutra 5:48 makes it clear that Muslims do not accept the manner by which men choose to rule themselves (i.e. a Constitution, laws, Democracy), but that the Muslims must rule over us "in accordance with God's revelations to you" (i.e. to the Muslims). This Sutra puts them in direct opposition to the Constitutions of all Western Countries.
Here is what their Qur'an says about:
----3. Jews and Christians. Sutra 5:51, 5:54, and 5:60 label Jews and Christians as "pigs and monkeys"
----4. The Qur'an Supersedes All Previous Scripture. Sutra 5:48 and 5:57 establish that the Qur'an supersedes all previous scripture (i.e. including the Bible and the Torah)
----5. Later Verses of the Qur'an Supersede Earlier Ones (Sutra 5:48). This means that the last Sutras are what govern a devout Muslim and NOT the early ones. The latter ones are the ones calling for the killing of Jews and Christians.
In fact, you might also want to note that Sutra 5 and 9 are among THE LAST THREE SURAS written. There are 114 Sutras in all. To a devout Muslim, these commands are clear. We live in dangerous times
Please Copy & Repost where ever you can and when you can. Everyone needs a look (read this).
Sounds like the Trojan Horse. It worked for the ancient Greeks and will probably work again. What is the difference between trusting the Taliban and trusting satan? Do people really thing the Talibans will suddenly distance themselves from their religios beliefs and become tolerant citizens?
I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you, too! Really. Sincerely. I wouldn't lie to you.
Anyone that believes this nonsense is a naive idiot.