That's why I never take that kind of talk seriously in a lying, war-promoting paper.
That and the fact that it is the intelligence agencies that are playing both sides in the war. Does help keep them going, though.
"Afghan officials closer to talks with insurgents" by Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press | September 5, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — In a further step toward reconciling with insurgents, President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that he will soon name the members of a council tasked with pursuing peace talks with rebels willing to break with Al Qaeda and recognize the government in Kabul.
Karzai’s announcement was given added poignancy by comments from the outgoing deputy commander of NATO forces in the country that commanders promised too much when they predicted quick success taking the key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter.
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Lost Marjah Mojo
While British Lieutenant General Nick Parker now sees signs of a turnaround in the turbulent area, he said the military will be more restrained in forecasting success in the future....
The High Peace Council members will include former Taliban, jihadi leaders, leading figures in Afghan society, and women, but gave no other details. They will be prepared to negotiate with insurgents who renounce violence, honor the Afghan constitution, and sever ties with terrorist networks.
The Taliban have so far rejected peace talks while foreign troops remain in the country. Talks held in Kabul and the Maldives with an insurgent group led by former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar produced no breakthrough.
Related:
"Gulbuddin Hekmatyar the favored warlord of the ISI and CIA. Casey was said to be particularly fond of him as both shared a goal of extending the fighting beyond Afghanistan into the Soviet Union itself. He was a ruthless fighter, who also led several raids into USSR territory. He was also a major drug trafficker. Almost half of all the covert weapons directed at Afghanistan were sent to his group"
Also see: CIA's Ace-in-the-Hole in Afghanistan
Yup, ONCE AGAIN an "insurgent" turns out to be a CIA ASSET!!!!
Also see: U.S. Talking to Itself in Talks With Taliban
Now I see why they never go anywhere.
Still, Karzai hopes the reconciliation process will help render a split in the Taliban between its hardcore members and those willing to consider abandoning the insurgency....
This isn't about peace; this is about politics.
--more--"
So how can the US agents and assets spoil the talks?
"Taliban threaten to attack polls in Afghan elections; Insurgents urge citizens to spurn Sept. 18 vote" by Rahim Faiez, Associated Press | September 6, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban vowed yesterday to attack polling places in Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, warning Afghans not to participate in what they called a sham vote....
Why would they even bother?
Meanwhile, a political rival of President Hamid Karzai questioned his approach to pending talks with rebels who might be persuaded to abandon the insurgency.
The threat issued yesterday comes just less than two weeks before the vote and follows the announcement of a final list of polling places to be opened around the country.
“It is only to the benefit of foreigners who want to maintain their existence in the country by holding such a process and we believe that the people will not get any benefit out of it,’’ a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said in a telephone interview.
“That’s why we announced to the local people that all Afghan people should boycott this election and they should not participate on the polling date,’’ Mujahid said....
That is a LOT DIFFERENT than ATTACKING, MSM!!
WTF is with you guys and the damn distortions?
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And speaking of distortions:
"Effort to recruit Taliban defectors stalls" by New York Times | September 7, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — A $250 million program to lure low-level Taliban fighters away from the insurgency has stalled, with Afghans bickering over who should run it and international donors slow to put up the money they had promised.
And HOW MANY TRILLIONS have we spent on WAR?
Six months after Afghanistan’s foreign backers agreed to generous funding for a reintegration effort, only $200,000 has been spent so far by the United States and little or nothing by other donors.
During the same period, the flow of Taliban fighters seeking to reintegrate has slowed to a trickle — by the most optimistic estimates, a few hundred in the last six months. It is not clear whether that is because of the lack of a program that would provide them with jobs, security guarantees, and other incentives, or because most Taliban no longer see the insurgency as a losing proposition....
Why would they when they are winning?
Congress this year earmarked $100 million to support reintegration programs, while at the London Conference on Afghanistan in February, Britain, Germany, Japan, and other countries promised another $150 million to go into a Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund, to be administered jointly by the Afghan government and foreign backers.
I'm glad you aren't running record deficits or anything, America.
A US official said that as of August, only $200,000 of the American money had been spent on reintegration.
Maybe we should leave and let them sort it out themselves, huh?
At a peace assembly in June, delegates agreed to form a High Peace Council, which would be responsible for trying to engage Taliban leaders in talks.
Subsequently, at a Kabul conference in July, more international money was pledged for the reintegration trust fund, and delegates agreed that the peace council would run the program financed by that fund.--more--"
