I was a step ahead (though I had actually written the post about 2 weeks ago) in writing that the United States, NATO, and Afghani government should pursue diplomatic talks with the Taliban. And lo and behold, in today’s New York Times, Afghanistan Tests Waters for Overture to Taliban:
The Afghan government and its allies in the region have begun approaching the Taliban and other insurgent groups with new intensity to test the possibilities for eventual peace talks, Western diplomats and Afghan officials here say.
The diplomatic approaches have been stepped up over the last several months by the Afghan government, as well as by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the officials said. They are part of a broad political effort to stem the downward spiral of violence in Afghanistan and the steep decline of public support for the government during a year that has proved to be the bloodiest of the past seven.
Security has deteriorated to the point that a growing chorus of Western diplomats, NATO commanders and Afghans has begun to argue that the insurgency cannot be defeated solely by military means. Some officials in Kabul contend that the war against the insurgents cannot be won and are calling for negotiations.
It should be noted, however, that negotiations will not solve Afghanistan’s problems on the whole — I see the continued allegiance to the Taliban as symptomatic, rather than the cause of, the failed Afghani state and the lack of serious development and infrastructural progress. And I personally think that the long-term solution towards eradicating groups like the Taliban is in the form of short-term stability, long-term development.
See Also: Journalist embeds with the Taliban, Bing West can’t handle the truth, Some Background on the Karzai-Taliban Talks, Will More US Troops Really Help in Afghanistan?, IRAN: No Afghan peace without Tehran, Return of the Talib (& Why Neither McCain, nor Obama, “Get it”), Defense Transformation in the Post-Rumsfeld Era, and Afghanistan: Security Continues to Decline in Kabul.
Technorati Tags: taliban, afghanistan, saudi arabia, afghani government, afghan government, peace talks, diplomacy, diplomatic efforts, talks with the taliban, pakistan
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