Afghan exit strategy takes shape ahead of London talks

Yahoo India News (Reuters) ^ | January 26, 2010 | William Maclean

[Cheap_Hessian]

Politicians and Western army chiefs mapped out the contours of an Afghanistan exit strategy on Monday, with three generals holding out the possibility of an eventual peace deal with the Taliban.

British army chief General Sir David Richards told Reuters negotiations with the Taliban could be considered but must be done from a position of strength. "So it's a matter of timing, not the principle."

He spoke ahead of a conference in London expected to agree a framework for the Afghan government to begin taking charge of security in line with a 2011 timetable set by President Barack Obama to start drawing down U.S. troops.

His comments echoed those made by senior U.S. army chiefs, including General David Petraeus, who said the fighting would get harder before the situation improved as Washington sends an extra 30,000 troops to break a stalemate in Afghanistan.

But both Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Central Command, and General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, held out the possibility of eventual talks with the Taliban leadership to end a war now into its ninth year.

[60Gunner]

Here’s an exit strategy for ya: When the last pig-humping raghead terrorist in Afghanistan is good and dead, we leave. Until then, we root ‘em out and mow ‘em down.