America has signalled a radical new initiative to bring the Taliban into the Afghan political process as part of growing efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the war in Afghanistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
I have been reading with some trepidation, reports on the "review" of USA Afghanistan/Pakistan policy that the Obama Administration has been conducting this week. Little snippets have been leaked to the press indicating everything from a massive surge of American forces, to 10 billion$ worth of aid to beef up the Afghan military and police forces. Each new speculation seemed to push us closer and closer to a Viet-Nam style quagmire, a quagmire that would de-rail Obama's domestic agenda as surely as Viet-Nam derailed Johnson's "Great Society." Now comes a report from the Guardian that in fact Obama may in fact be considering a solution to the Af-Pakistan mess that actually makes sense:
Give the Taliban back a share of the pie.
The US ambassador to Kabul told the Observer that America would be prepared to discuss the establishment of a political party, or even election candidates representing the Taliban, as part of a political strategy that would sit alongside reinforced military efforts to end the increasingly intractable conflict.
Far from a capitulation, this strategy is a frank realization of a sordid fact that has been evident for some time to those who were willing to take off their neo-con rose glasses and look: The Taliban are already in power. Vast tracts of land in Afghanistan are under Taliban control. Continuing to pour soldiers and money into Afghanistan in an effort to unseat them is even more pointless than pouring billions down the toilets at A.I.G. The reality is that there is only one way that insurgencies end.
William Wood, the outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan, told the Observer that "insurgencies, like all wars... end when there is an agreement". He said while the US saw "no way there could be power-sharing or an enclave" for the Taliban, "there is room for discussion on the formation of political parties [or] running... for elections. That is very different from shooting your way into power." The key requirement would be respect for the constitution, Wood added.
In fact, negotiations have already been underway in this regard.
In Kabul, the Observer has discovered at least four attempts at exploratory negotiations between insurgents, their representatives and the Afghan government. One involves Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Islamist warlord and former prime minister, whose militants are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of international and Afghan soldiers and civilians in the east of Afghanistan. Two weeks ago Hekmatyar's representatives and government emissaries met in a hotel in Dubai, according to Senator Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban minister who is a key intermediary. Rahmani also claims to have been in touch with Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran militant behind a series of bloody attacks in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan.
Other contacts include those between Taliban leaders and President Hamid Karzai's brother, and those brokered by a group of ex-Taliban leaders now living under amnesty in Kabul including Abdul Salam Zaeef, former ambassador to Pakistan. Nato and EU officials have met Zaeef to discuss Taliban demands. A Pakistan-Afghan "jirga", or assembly of elders, has established a "reconciliation committee" to "reach out to extremists".
Will this work? Who knows? I am heartened that at least it shows the Obama Administration is willing to face reality as it exists and to change policy to fit the facts (rather than changing facts to fit the policy.) To those who think this kind of change in policy represents dangerous naivite, rest assured, the diplomats are not talking about negotiating with terrorists:
In Kabul, Wood said the upper ranks of the Afghan insurgency had yet to show any "inclination" for reconciliation. Al-Qaida remained "the enemy of the world", making talks inconceivable.
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