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| Afghanistan |
| UN splits al Qaeda and Taliban on sanctions list |
| 2011-06-18 |
| [Dawn] The UN Security Council on Friday split the international sanctions regime for the Taliban and al Qaeda to encourage the Taliban to join reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan. The council unanimously passed two resolutions which set up one new blacklist of individuals and organizations accused of links to al Qaeda and a second for those linked to the Taliban militia. The two groups have until now been handled by the same sanctions committee. But the international powers wanted to separate them to highlight the divide between al Qaeda's global jihadist agenda and the Taliban's focus on Afghanistan. The sanctions committee was set up in 1999 when al Qaeda had major bases in the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan until they were driven out of power by US led forces. The new resolutions, 1988 and 1989, send "a clear message to the Taliban that there is a future for those who separate from al Qaeda, renounce violence and abide by the Afghan constitution," said Susan Rice, UN envoy for the United States, which led the campaign for the division. Peter Wittig, Germany's UN ambassador who heads the Security Council anti-terrorism sanctions committee, said the resolution sends "a strong signal of trust and support for the peace and reconciliation efforts of the government of Afghanistan." US President Barack B.O.Obama has set July as the target date to start cutting the 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan and Defence Secretary Robert Gates said this month there could be talks with the Taliban before the end of the year. The new sanctions regime for those who pose "a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan" gives the Afghan government a say in the listing and delisting of accused krazed killers. An ombudsman also gets extra powers to recommend delistings. The Security Council will have to vote unanimously to keep a person on a sanctions list if the ombudsman has recommended the name be taken off. Wittig called the changes a "major advance." While all 15 council measures backed the resolutions, India and Russia said there must be none easing up in the international fight against terrorism. "There must be no slackening of efforts to fight both al Qaeda and the Taliban," said Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin. Separately, the Security Council's sanctions committee is considering taking about 20 former Taliban capos off the UN blacklist. The Afghan government had originally advanced about 50 names but withdrew many because it did not have the paperwork to back up the case, diplomats said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 I can't contradict that. I was only pointing out that the change in strength/stature/policy has been since January 2009. Just like the economy, I guess, that was "unexpected" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-06-18 18:37 |
| #3 Bush articulated a consensus re Afghanistan that has never been repudiated officially. Afghanistan has always been the good war. Western forces were sent to Afghanistan to hunt down and kill the Taliban because they sponsored a mass fatality attack on the continental US. The objective was punishment for the Taliban and deterrence of other state actors who might contemplate sponsoring attacks of similar or greater magnitude. When it became clear that this could not be done without inflicting non trivial casualties on at least a part of the Afghan population (Pashtuns) Western politicians went wobbly and changed the mission to some sort of therapeutic intervention with a nebulous end state. This happened well before Obama. The net result is that sponsoring an attack on the US is not a suicidal mistake but a rational option for any rational hostile actor. If the Taliban survive this and return to power in Afghanistan with the blessing of the US government why should a nuclear armed Iran be deterred in any way? |
| Posted by: Varmint Clolumble9732 2011-06-18 16:58 |
| #2 *ahem* you do know Bush is no longer POTUS, right? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-06-18 13:32 |
#1 "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. " Empty words. |
| Posted by: Varmint Clolumble9732 2011-06-18 07:31 |