Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban

by Infidelesto on July 27, 2009 · Comments

Inevitable when you have two appeasement leaders like Gordon Brown and Barack Obama…They may want to ask Pakistan how it worked out for them when they began negotiating with the Taliban…

Guardian

A concerted effort to start unprecedented talks between Taliban and British and American envoys was outlined today in a significant change in tactics designed to bring about a breakthrough in the attritional, eight-year conflict in Afghanistan.

Senior ministers and commanders on the ground believe they have created the right conditions to open up a dialogue with “second-tier” local leaders now that the Taliban have been forced back in a swath of Helmand province.

They are hoping that Britain’s continuing military presence in Helmand, strengthened significantly by the arrival of thousands of US troops, will encourage Taliban commanders to end the insurgency. There is even talk in London and Washington of a military “exit strategy”.

Speaking at the end of the five-week Operation Panther’s Claw in which hundreds of British troops were reported to have cleared insurgents from a vital region in Helmand province, Lieutenant-General Simon Mayall, deputy chief of defence staff, said: “It gives the Taliban ’second tier’ room to reconnect with the government and this is absolutely at the heart of this operation.”

The second tier is regarded as crucial because they control large numbers of Taliban fighters in Pashtun-dominated southern Afghanistan. The first tier of Taliban commanders – hardliners around Mullah Omar – could not be expected to start talks in the foreseeable future. The third tier – footsoldiers with no strong commitments – are not regarded as influential or significant players.

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  • Tonto
    Afghans always will go to the sound of the guns. They don't want to be left out of any fight. The "2nd tier" isn't really political, they just fight, probably in an inter-tribal feud or for some gain that we wouldn't even understand. It's not necessarily in support of the Taliban or Al Qaida. Without Omar or the Al Qaida big guns around, they may be amenable to talks if they can see a gain for their tribe in talking. The Taliban doesn't "rule" them, nobody does. The Taliban can suggest or they better bring a whole army with them if they demand. That's how things are in Afghanistan. A good threat would be "either talk or we destroy the poppy crop".....that would work, especially if you really blasted a couple and made them infertile for 20 years or so.....agent orange...aha!
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