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View Full Version : Karzai Demands U.S. Troop Restrictions as Taliban Cancels Peace Talks



Conley
03-15-2012, 10:37 AM
Prospects for an orderly withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan suffered two blows on Thursday as President Hamid Karzai demanded that the United States confine troops to major bases by next year, and the Taliban announced that they were suspending peace talks with the Americans.

Getting talks started with the Taliban has been a major goal of the United States and its NATO allies for the past two years, and only in recent months was there concrete evidence of progress.

And the declaration by President Karzai, if carried out, would greatly accelerate the pace of transition from NATO to Afghan control, which previously was envisioned to be complete by 2014. Moving most troops to major bases would greatly reduce their role on the ground.

The Afghan president was reacting to widespread Afghan anger over the massacre by an American soldier of 16 civilians in Kandahar last Sunday, and the decision of the military authorities to remove him from Afghanistan, which was reported on Wednesday.

The Taliban statement, issued in English and Pashto on an insurgent web site, said talks with an American representative had commenced over the release of some Taliban members from the Guantánamo Bay prison, but accused the American representative of changing the preconditions for the talks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/world/asia/taliban-call-off-talks-as-karzai-urges-faster-us-transition.html

Both of these developments may be better for us in the long run.

Mister D
03-15-2012, 10:39 AM
Afghan control? Better book your flight, Karzai.

MMC
03-15-2012, 10:42 AM
Didnt we already release their prisoners. Now the Taliban suspends peace talks after they got what they wanted.....huh? Wonder if the Obama Administration will finally admit to be duped? Karzai's Lawmakers want him to also suspend talks.

Conley
03-15-2012, 10:43 AM
Afghan control? Better book your flight, Karzai.

Yep, he's done. These killings have put him in even greater danger. He has to come down hard on the U.S. just to keep himself alive.

Conley
03-15-2012, 10:45 AM
Didnt we already release their prisoners. Now the Taliban suspends peace talks after they got what they wanted.....huh? Wonder if the Obama Administration will finally admit to be duped? Karzai's Lawmakers want him to also suspend talks.

Not yet released:


The main obstacle appeared to be executing the first set of confidence-building measures: A prisoner swap that would transfer five senior Taliban leaders held in Guantánamo to house arrest in Qatar in exchange for a Westerner being held by the insurgents.

The plan faced a series of difficulties, notably uncertainty about what conditions the five Taliban would be living under in Qatar, and American lawmakers on both sides of the political divide expressed deep skepticism about the release of the insurgents.

Faced with substantial political opposition, the Obama administration wanted to wait to release the men until it could get a direct exchange for the Westerner, the American officials said. But it appeared Thursday that the Taliban had grown tired of waiting for the Americans to begin the process, and that the insurgents feared the conditions under which their compatriots would be housed in Qatar would be too restrictive.

Mister D
03-15-2012, 10:47 AM
Yep, he's done. These killings have put him in even greater danger. He has to come down hard on the U.S. just to keep himself alive.


Yeah, I guess he doesn't have much choice in this situation. I'll be genuinely suprised if he's dumb enough to stay.

Conley
03-15-2012, 10:52 AM
Yeah, I guess he doesn't have much choice in this situation. I'll be genuinely suprised if he's dumb enough to stay.

After this it seems impossible. He's demanding a speed up of the withdrawal so I expect he already has plans made. Either that or he's content to become a meaningless martyr.

MMC
03-15-2012, 11:22 AM
He still wants to keep.....Quote: Advisors. Unquote: there on a long term basis! What the hell for? What do we need people in Afghanistan for? I don't want to hear about any shift in strategy of an undefined mission. No oil, and Democracy has failed there. What reason is there for us to stay. Quit with this bullshit of Afghan Forces being able to take control.

It's simple. Time for the Afghans to step up to the plate and decide to run their country. Whatever happens now. Happens! It's on them. If they turn the shithold into a blood-bath of killing their own people. Be my guest.....be down......don't talk. Show them some Nike Gym Shoes and tell them just, Do it!

You reap what you sow. Deal with it. No need for our people to have anything to do with this population of people. Let all step away and let Afghanistan become the standing joke of the planet!

Mister D
03-15-2012, 11:31 AM
Meaningless is right. He'll be remembered for corruption if at all.

I'd hate to see any more of our people die for this moonscape.

Mainecoons
03-15-2012, 01:00 PM
Pack 'em up and bring them home. We'll see how long Karzai is around when the Taliban take over.