Negotiating with the Taliban
Say it aint so O, say it aint so. Sorry to Shoeless Joe for that one, but I thought it was a cool opening line. But I knew deep down Obama would do something like this, he said so during his campaign. What do you expect from someone who always apologizes to everyone about America and claims roots to almost every nation he visits? We need a real leader not a world kiss ass; Bet Obama was the tattle tale in school, the teachers brown nose. Oh now I did it. I said brown. The Dems are going to come out of the woodwork now screaming racism.
Several Diplomats admit that behind the scenes there have been months of preliminary talks between the two sides, but the U.S. has never confirmed any such negotiations. There so little is known about any covert meetings that they have been open to widely different interpretations.
The closest anyone in the U.S. establishment has come to publicly acknowledging efforts to kick-start talks was when Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this month there could be political talks with the Taliban by the end of this year
"Peace talks are going on with the Taliban. The foreign military and especially the United States itself is going ahead with these negotiations," Karzai said in a speech in Kabul.
"The peace negotiations between (the) Afghan government and the Taliban movement are not yet based on a certain agenda or physical (meetings), there are contacts established."
Whether or not these talks are going on President Barack Obama is expected to announce next month his plan to begin withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. This is part of promise bt President Obama to begin reducing the U.S. military presence and hand over to Afghan security forces by 2014. A source in the Whitehouse is saying his inital withdrawal will be a few thousand with 10,000 troops returning by the end of 2011, 30,000 by end of 2012. While President Obama wants to keep his promise, especially during campaign season, it is meeting with some resistance from military leaders that believe a withdrawal is too soon. But they concede should President Obama insist on withdrawal, they would prefer only 5,000 troop by the end of 2022.
The United States is on the verge of announcing a "substantial" drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Friday.
Now this would be a lofty accomplishment and shows how much improvement has occurred in order for Obama to order a drawdown.
But Peace negotiations? Are you kidding? There is nothing to negotiate about. The Taliban must surrender and cease all hostilities around the world. They must renounce terrorism in all its forms and be beholden to that promise. They must be an example of what change can bring. They must help end and create a new peaceful order to other terror organizations. Furthermore, they must help to rebuild Afghanistan and helps its poor as well as hungry. They also must destroy all poppy fields and turn them into productive farms to help feed the people of Afghanistan. These may be lofty ideas, but should we expect anything less? There needs to be a lot of healing for the destruction they have caused to their homeland and abroad.
“Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one”
John Lennon
