British PM: 80 percent of Taliban “not hardcore”

by Infidelesto on February 3, 2010 · Comments

WTF does that mean? They’ll only slice your jugular 20%?  Or throw acid into just one eye? Or only blow up 2 children’s schools instead of 10?

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - There is no room for compromise with hardcore Afghan Taliban but the Afghan government and its allies hope to lure away many of the up to 80 percent of Taliban who joined for economic reasons, a British minister said.

On the fundamentals, i.e. violence, direct assault, terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, on our forces, there is no room for compromise, there is no middle way,” Rammell said.

“It’s got to be about a rejection of that violent approach and that’s why I talk about reintegration and not reconciliation.”

He did not expect Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar to give up his fight.

“The focus of our reintegration efforts are those members of the Taliban who are prepared to renounce violence … I don’t believe Mullah Omar is in that position.”

But he said only about 20 percent of the Taliban were “hardcore, ideological jihadists,” while 80 percent had joined for various reasons, largely as a means of making a living.

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  10. Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban
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  • Storm_Rider
    "There is no room for compromise with hardcore Afghan Taliban but the Afghan government and its allies hope to lure away many of the up to 80 percent of Taliban who joined for economic reasons, a British minister said." Acceptable British Stupidity - circa 2010

    "There is no room for compromise with hardcore Nazis, but the Allied governments hope to lure away many of the up to 80 percent of Germans who joined for economic reasons, a British minister said." Unacceptable British Stupidity - circa 1942
  • SirWilhelm
    One of the reasons we're winning in Iraq is because we've gotten many Iraqis to change sides and support the government. The Iraqi government that replaced Saddam's wasn't very popular either. There are, naturally, similarites and differences, between Iraq and Afghanistan, but the principle is the same. If you get more Afghanis to support the government, there'll be less support for the Taliban. Our side is looking for whatever incentives it can find that will encourage Taliban supporters to change sides, and keep them on the good side. I hope it works.
  • Solkhar
    At least on three occassions I pointed this out on the blog, what you and the MSM (of which ironically you use but condemn as you like) call the Taliban is not even remotely correct. Only the hard-core element of Pushtuns of which is around that 20 per cent are what you discribe as the Taliban, the rest join the conflict on their side because of tribal allegences, income, the typical tribal dislike for foreigners and because they do not like the government.

    Talibanism is the enemy, its poltical masters are but the majority of the footsoldiers are there for other reasons. What you "want to believe" has simply nothing to do with the reality and is tainted with the usual wank of agenda bais, pushing rumors not reality and that every growing sensationalism.
  • They're Islamists nonetheless. Doesn't matter if they actively engage or
    stay silent on the sidelines. Many non-violent "tribalists" as you call it
    are still HARDCORE when it comes to their cultural Islamist values. We
    should take this opportunity to help change their culture just like we did
    in Japan in WW2. I already know the answer though. These people are so
    deeply rooted in their religious values, that will never happen.

    All you can do is destroy any element related to the Taliban. Even the
    name. Ban the total use of the word. Change the culture.
  • Tonto
    That's kind of like saying that the KKK is actually a benevolent Christian organization. WTF are these people that say these stupid thing thinking?
  • joesix_pack
    Wars tend to create new enemies. This is why. Most people are not 'hard core' in just about everything. Most Germans were not bad, but in 1944 we had to fight them. Most Japanese in 1944 were not bad people either. Same problem. Most Southerners in 1864 were good people, not 'hard core', yet their way of life was changed, through massive violence. On the other side, most northerners were not 'hard core' either, yet they violently changed the lives of millions of other 'good' people forever.

    Just because a group of people who is fighting against you are 80% good does not in anyway change the issues that are the base cause of the war in the first place. Nor does it mean that ANY of them will switch sides and join you if given a chance.
  • greg_o
    Are these people being paid to be stoopid? do they know how to use the internet? Have any of them ever read the koran? Or even segments of it?
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