Posted on 06/18/2013 3:23:44 PM PDT by ketelone
WASHINGTON:
The United States will begin formal talks with the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, in Doha, Qatar, in a couple of days, Obama administration officials said in a major announcement on Tuesday. The engagement, the first of its kind since the post 9/11 conflict, follows key concessions made by Washington, including dropping the pre-condition that Taliban immediately break ties with al-Qaida, in return for much broader, generic, self-serving commitments by the unyielding terrorist group.
In a conference call from Northern Ireland where President Obama is attending the G8 summit, US officials said they expected Taliban to issue a statement opposing the use of Afghan soil to threaten other countries (which implicitly meant not sheltering al-Qaida); and second, that they support an Afghan peace process.
As it turned out, the statement released by the Taliban was stunning in its implied rejection of even the minimum US demands and assertive in its own assumption of Afghan leadership and how it would achieve its objectives: "It is well known to all that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been waging jihad to put an end to the occupation and form an independent Islamic system," it said, interposing itself in the Afghan leadership position and projecting the US,and not al-Qaida, as the problem.
It also said "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considerers it its religious and national duty to gain independence from the occupation and for that purpose has utilised every legitimate way and will utilise it in future too," while making no commitment or reference to the Afghan constitution, the current US-backed leadership in Kabul, or the rights of women and minorities.
Earlier US officials had already reeled back on their expectation. "We've long had a demand on the Taliban that they make a statement that distances themselves from the movement from international terrorism, but made clear that we didn't expect immediately for them to break ties with al-Qaida, because that's an outcome of the negotiation process," they said, explaining the concessions made to the nihilistic outfit, which, surprisingly, includes elements Washington has repeatedly described as, and officially designated as, a terrorist group - the Haqqani network.
US officials had also maintained that they had got enough and the "statement that we expect today is this first step in distancing them, distancing the movement from international terrorism" although they conceded "it's not as far as will demand them to go at the end of the process."
The negotiating group, which calls itself Taliban Political Commission, are the "fully authorized representatives of the movement, and authorized by Mullah Omar himself" administration officials said against the backdrop of Washington having been previously fooled by elements claiming to represent Taliban. "We don't know the exact makeup of the Taliban delegation, but we believe that it broadly represents, as authorized by Mullah Omar, the entire movement to include the Haqqanis," they added.
The officials were cautious about the outcome of what they said was a first step in what could be a complex, long, and messy dialogue. "I think we need to be realistic. This is a new development, a potentially significant development. But peace is not at hand," one official said.
In fact, officials said the first meeting is likely to be just an exchange of agendas rather than any substantive, detailed discussion. "We'll tell them what we want to talk about; they'll tell us what they want to talk about; and we'll both then adjourn and consult on next steps, and then have another meeting in a week or two later," they said. Among the things the US will want to talk about from the beginning is how Taliban going to cut ties with al-Qaida — the group that attacked US on 9/11 and was sheltered by the Taliban — "how quickly, exactly how they're going to do it, what it means."
Washington's dramatic outreach with the Pakistan-backed Taliban came even as US - and Nato-led international coalition handed over the lead on security to Afghan National Forces at a formal ceremony in Kabul, marking a milestone in the protracted conflict in the land-locked country. It also came on the eve of secretary of state John Kerry's visit next week to India (and Pakistan), where the latest developments will be part of the talks' agenda. Officials said Pakistan was supportive of the dialogue and had played a key role in bringing Taliban to the table.
They however implicitly maintained that despite the diminishing American military footprint, engaging Taliban did not mean Washington would abandon its core interests. It would continue to protect its equities Afghanistan.
Whats the answer? Negotiating with the guys who did 9-11 in hopes that they pinky swear they wont do it again?
We’ll see, Obama did tell us he is uniquely qualified to deal with these matters. To the rest of the world it appears we are starting to give in.
A comment below the article at the original site by a Pakistani:
Pak American ()
1 hr ago Bronze: 55
With Afghanistan “secured”, Pakistan will focus its energy on Kashmir. Bad time for India coming.... LOL
It may have been about revenge initially (which I totally agreed with), and we killed those guys years ago.
Then it became about winning hearts and minds. Didn't work. AGAIN.
Now I don't know exactly why we're there. It sure isn't about eliminating the Taliban.
Having 15 kids each so we have spares for the meat grinder.
killing a billion muslims is going to need a lot of manpower.
I dont recall Osama being found in Somalia. Nope, he was found in a fortified safe house, about ten yards away from Pak Military headquarters probably built with American tax dollars. If we had bombed Pakistan into dust, maybe the war on terror wouldve ended in 03 itself. We should never have dealt with the Pakistanis. And now this. Its almost too much to bear, seeing us trying to beg the enemy not to kill us. They’ll do it anyway.
In the long run this will go nowhere except down. Just like every one of the other “Mideast Peace Talks.” That’s all this is, talk. Expensive talk. In lives and money.
Leave TODAY.
Theyre not going to give up just because we did.
Leave? Allow Afghanistan to be run by the Taliban again? And then what? What when the next attack comes?
I think the only people left in the world who still fear the US Government are it’s own citizens.
proceed to call me cheeseating surrender monkey or Obama loving Bush hater now...
It’s the damn Democrats who are always wailing about the “war on women”.
I shudder to think what the Taliban have in store for Afghan women and girls.
There’s your “war on women”, Democrats. It’s real, not your phony Sandra Fluke bloviating. Thank your precious Obama, it’s on his head, and yours.
Wait, where are we in Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc? In a country that once hated us and wanted to kill us, but now is a flourishing pro american economy?
My first question is, why throw away what was achieved through american blood and money, like this?
Pakistan is 200 million people in an area bigger than Texas...
Every nation on earth sets foreign policy based upon their own specific interests - except us.
Oh, I dunno. How many of them live in large moslem cities?
I agree too. Feels like the end times have begun.
Their military is concentrated in certain areas only. And given they milked us for ten long years while hiding Osama in their military academy, I think it shouldnt be too hard to figure out where to hit them. Dont even go in there. Just bomb their military and intelligence infrastructure to Kingdom come, and secure our borders. Oh wait, secure borders? Thats impossible isnt it? Viva la migra.
You said it.
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