Taliban 'Could Cut Links With Al Qaeda'

Sky News ^ | 10th September 2012 | Sam Kiley

[the scotsman]

The Taliban may be prepared to renounce terrorism and sever links with al Qaeda, accept a power sharing role in a new Afghan government and even tolerate American bases in their country, according to a new report.

A panel of four experts from the Royal United Services Institute interviewed four senior figures - each one part of the "pragmatic" or "moderate" part of the Islamist movement - at a secret location in the Arabian Gulf.

The four figures, among them two former Taliban ministers, a Mujahideen commander and a well-connected negotiator, surprised the experts by insisting that they had no enmity towards the United States.

They also held out the prospect that the Taliban could even join efforts to rid Afghanistan of al Qaeda if the movement was part of a national government.

Michael Semple, one of the authors of the report who has lead negotiations with elements of the Taliban in the past, said: "This derives from the understanding that there is not going to be a military solution in Afghanistan, that the war being fought is unwinnable, and from a strong sense among some of the 40-something Taliban leadership that they don’t want the country to disintegrate into civil war when foreign forces leave the country in 2014."'

[no-to-illegals]

surprised the experts

yep, experts surprised. Must have never happened before.

[Diogenesis]

They attacked America and now pretend otherwise,
just like America's proMoslem Congress and
obviously Moslem, undocumented, pOTUS;
who work together against real Americans
as they give ONLY MOSLEMS specials rights
such as not being under ObamaCARE.

[Biggirl]

Tayyqia in action.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Complete and utter bull squats!

BTW, whatever happened to the simple past tense?
“ who has lead negotiations”

[Travis McGee]

And I would trust and believe them, too.

/sarc

[RightOnline]

That was al Quaeda.....not the Taliban. A difference definitely with a distinction (and no, I don’t like either of these groups of bastards), but facts matter here. This may be the only way out of that hell hole.

[piasa]

Looks like the current crop is dredging up the Saudi/Pakistan butt-kissing crap from the 1990s ... worked out real well then, too /s

Rep. ROHRABACHER (1999) — How the Clinton Administration brought the Taliban to power
Senate testimony | April 14, 1999 | Rep. Dana Rohrabacher
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/535202/posts

[FreedomPoster]

And monkeys could fly out of my butt.

[mazda77]

Geez! When are they going to learn? I'll bet these same people have those COEXIST stickers on their cars too.

Islam Permits Lying to Deceive Unbelievers

Hey panty-wastes, I've got your COEXIST right here.

[John W]

They harbored them. Guilty.

[silverleaf]

uh huh

Like George Bush didn’t offer them this option in October ‘01

[piasa]

The Taliban and Pakistan is what started the whole mess.

[PowderMonkey]

"...senior figures - each one part of the "pragmatic" or "moderate" part of the Islamist movement..."

Game. Set. Match. There is no such critter as a "moderate" Mohammedan. Strike the tents, boys, and just march out. If Afghanistan descends into civil war, the rest of the world will remain safe, as the Taliban and Al Qeda preoccupy themselves with slitting each others throats.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Absolute bullshit.
Meanwhile muslims trained by the allied forces continue to turn their weapons on their trainers and assassinate them.
These people do not want to be brought out of the 7th century. They do not want nor can they understand freedom and liberty. They follow a religion of oppression and death. They will never be civilized.

[Gay State Conservative]

Of *course* they *could* cut ties just as my border collie *could* start performing brain surgery later today.

[piasa]

(Well, the Russians really did start it-- the Pakis, being opportunistic, just took over the messmaking job when the Russians were out of the way, to be joined by the Clinton Admin which had switched support from Massood to Hekmatyar. )

[onedoug]

islamists belong dead, not dealt with.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Yeah, that’s the thing about fanatics, always willing to compromise their core principles.

Yeah, that’s the thing about people who believe fanatics when they say they are willing to compromise their core principles.

I actually respect the fanatics more in this case, because they are obviously lying to save their skin and their agenda. And that’s a legitimate tactic.

But those that believe them are just stupid suckers, with no understanding of history, no core values, arrogantly convinced of their intellectual and moral superiority, and thus just patsies for the fanatics.

And the latter are so disappointed when the fanatics double cross them. Suckers.

[piasa]

Michael Semple, one of the authors of the report who has lead negotiations with elements of the Taliban in the past, said: "This derives from the understanding that there is not going to be a military solution in Afghanistan, that the war being fought is unwinnable, and from a strong sense among some of the 40-something Taliban leadership that they don’t want the country to disintegrate into civil war when foreign forces leave the country in 2014."'

This guy Semple tried this before and got people killed. Some place called Musa Qala. Semple's probably one of John Kerry's [think of his Paris rogue diplomacy trying to help the North Vietnamese] and Holbrooke's ilk. The Taliban do not think they are losing. They know all they have to do is wait us out, which was OBL and Mullah Omar's plan from the beginning- start something, engage us, kill some, watch us run... consolidate position, start something, wash, rinse, repeat until they win. OBL said Americans are weak and can always be counted on to run. The idea that the Obama admin and others are trying to lay out- that you can announce your withdrawal in advance and expect to leave as victors is delusional. You've already capitulated. In most articles the Obama admin is trying to claim Karzai is driving the idea of talks with the Taliban when it is clearly Holbrooke, is just the Obama admin trying to avoid responsibility and blame for fear of damage on the election trail. But they have to go through with it for their agenda- to engineer defeat as they did in the 70s.