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Afghanistan: Deal With the Taliban The Basis for U.S. Withdrawal?
Ahmad Rashid is widely considered to be the best journalist on Afghan and related Pakistani issues. And he has a scoop over the secret U.S. negotiations with the Taliban. I respect him though I dont necessarily agree with him. And Rashids points must be integrated into the U.S. and Western debate over Afghanistan.Heres the key section: The talks are premised on the essential realisation that neither a successful western withdrawal from Afghanistan nor a transition to Afghan forces can take place, without an end to the civil war and a political settlement that involves the Afghan government and the Taliban, but also Pakistan, the US and the region. Think about that, whether or not it is accurate. What Rashid is saying is that the U.S. government knows that it has to make a deal with the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan. And since the Obama Administration is eager to get out (for political reasons more than strategic ones), it has a strong need to reach agreement with the Taliban, which means that unilateral concessions are likely. Posted by: tipper 2011-06-30 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=325501 |