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View Full Version : Exclusive: SECRET US-Taliban Talks Reach Turning Point.....



MMC
12-21-2011, 09:53 PM
(Reuters) - After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan (http://thepoliticalforums.com/places/afghanistan)'s Taliban insurgents, senior U.S. officials say the talks have reached a critical juncture and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war.
As part of the accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy, Reuters has learned, the United States is considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

It has asked representatives of the Taliban to match that confidence-building measure with some of their own. Those could include a denunciation of international terrorism and a public willingness to enter formal political talks with the government headed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

U.S. officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany (http://thepoliticalforums.com/places/germany) and Doha with representatives of Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban's Quetta Shura, the officials said.

Obama will likely face criticism, including from Republican presidential candidates, for dealing with an insurgent group that has killed U.S. soldiers and advocates a strict Islamic form of government.

If the effort advances, one of the next steps would be more public, unequivocal U.S. support for establishing a Taliban office outside of Afghanistan.
U.S. officials said they have told the Taliban they must not use that office for fundraising, propaganda or constructing a shadow government, but only to facilitate future negotiations that could eventually set the stage for the Taliban to reenter Afghan governance.
On Sunday, a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council said the Taliban had indicated it was willing to open an office in an Islamic country.....snip~

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/us-usa-afghanistan-idUSTRE7BI03I20111219 <<<<< More Here!

What happened to we don't negotiate with Terroists. Oh, how we mince words eh Obama. Afghanistan was the War he supported. This is where we would meet AQ on their grounds. Yet here we are mainly fighting the Taliban.

Anyhow.....CL here is the bit on those Secret Talks!

Conley
12-21-2011, 10:07 PM
I appreciate you posting this. Really I do, but whenever I read this stuff it really makes my blood boil. The idea that these guys are trustworthy is just so ridiculous. Biden's statement reminds me of when Bush said he didn't care where OBL was and whether he was dead or alive. Our government is just lost...

Captain Obvious
12-21-2011, 10:11 PM
I'm skeptical

MMC
12-21-2011, 10:26 PM
Sorry about that brutha.....although, maybe getting that blood boiling will get you Rantin and back in shape. :wink:

Unspecified number of Taliban out Guantanamo, plus set up a Taliban office in an Islamic Country? What the Hell for? This is how pathetic Obama truly is, to believe they will not attempt to set up a shadow government. How does putting them into another Islamic Country help the Taliban re-emerge back into Afghanistan. Considering they have never left there and have been fighting us tooth and nail.

Conley
12-21-2011, 10:37 PM
Exactly, why would we want them to set up foreign 'embassies'? Ridiculous.

What do you mean my ranting is out of shape? :angry: :grin:

Captain Obvious
12-21-2011, 10:40 PM
Exactly, why would we want them to set up foreign 'embassies'? Ridiculous.

What do you mean my ranting is out of shape? :angry: :grin:

It's the yawning sloth.

Doesn't quite fit the "mad at the world" image.

Conley
12-21-2011, 10:42 PM
It's the yawning sloth.

Doesn't quite fit the "mad at the world" image.

:rofl: You can't tell but that sloth is furious. A happy sloth is asleep...this one is sticking its tongue out and baring it's teeth (all three of them). Clearly enraged. :angry:

MMC
12-21-2011, 10:53 PM
Exactly, why would we want them to set up foreign 'embassies'? Ridiculous.

What do you mean my ranting is out of shape? :angry: :grin:


Well.....actually it's not out of shape. It's damn near non-existent.:cya20:

MMC
12-21-2011, 11:03 PM
I would ask if ya are Mad Bro.....but I doubt a deep sigh of breath :f_zen: constitutes a Rant! :f_run:

Btw.....where did my guys with the pillow-fighting disappear to. :angry: :laugh:

Conley
12-21-2011, 11:04 PM
Well.....actually it's not out of shape. It's damn near non-existent.:cya20:

:flipoff::sign14::MSM::bullshit::angry9::blowup::a sshole::cussing::angry1::riot::violent5:





I still got it.

:grin:

MMC
12-21-2011, 11:20 PM
:biglaugh:

Peter1469
12-22-2011, 08:50 PM
I don't have a problem with it. The Taliban were only our enemy insomuch as they refused to hand over the al Qaeda dogs in their midst. In fact I think that our decision to move Taliban prisoners to GITMO violated recognized international law. Many in the JAG Corps said the same, even the top generals of each service.

They could have lawfully been held in theater for the duration of the conflict. Even more important once we dethroned the Taliban and smeared al Qaeda over the landscape there wasn't any legitimate reason to remain in Afghanistan (combat forces that is- a healthy SoF and intell asset presence would be grand): nation building is the task of fools, and Colin Powell should forever be denounced for his proclamation that "if you break it you own it." B.S.: the U.S. is a sovereign nation and if it decided to break another nation it has no obligation whatsoever to fix that nation. Perhaps they will think twice the next time before they piss us off.

GRUMPY
12-23-2011, 09:46 AM
I don't have a problem with it. The Taliban were only our enemy insomuch as they refused to hand over the al Qaeda dogs in their midst. In fact I think that our decision to move Taliban prisoners to GITMO violated recognized international law. Many in the JAG Corps said the same, even the top generals of each service.

They could have lawfully been held in theater for the duration of the conflict. Even more important once we dethroned the Taliban and smeared al Qaeda over the landscape there wasn't any legitimate reason to remain in Afghanistan (combat forces that is- a healthy SoF and intell asset presence would be grand): nation building is the task of fools, and Colin Powell should forever be denounced for his proclamation that "if you break it you own it." B.S.: the U.S. is a sovereign nation and if it decided to break another nation it has no obligation whatsoever to fix that nation. Perhaps they will think twice the next time before they piss us off.

do you see the confusion here....agree with you about nation building....as for the taliban they were the material friend of our enemy, providing both aid and comfort and have acted as an enemy killing american soldiers rather than turning over osama/aq....they were and are the enemy....confused thinking will not change the reality on the ground.....osama is dead, to a great degree aq decimated and the taliban living in caves.....we have done what we came to do.....if we had prosecuted war completely without remorse and self deprication then maybe we could have left the theatre feared....now we shall leave as a paper tiger.....maybe we will learn from this episode that war is costly, that there is no such thing as a small imprint and that you cannot outsourse this to nato or anyone else....

MMC
12-23-2011, 09:50 AM
Perhaps we can learn the lesson of going to war and coming away empty handed! Just a thought!

jgreer
12-23-2011, 10:21 AM
If we are leaving which we are it makes sense to have talks with the people who will be running the country

jgreer
12-23-2011, 10:21 AM
The war is over we talked to the germans after ww2 same thing you gotta move on

MMC
12-23-2011, 10:31 AM
If we are leaving which we are it makes sense to have talks with the people who will be running the country

While true JG.....what does this have to do with Pakistan? As they won't be running Afghanistan.

jgreer
12-23-2011, 10:37 AM
I think the taliban will be doing alot in Afghanistan, dont you?

MMC
12-23-2011, 11:05 AM
I think the taliban will be doing alot in Afghanistan, dont you?

After we are gone.....I don't think the Pakis Taliban will be in Afghanistan doing anything. I don't think the Afghanis' Taliban will go for that. Nor the Afgahnis government. Also there is the fact that most Taliban Leaders are not in these talks. That there are Taliban fighting other Taliban and such will take place again after we leave.

Yet barring that, was it not Obama when attacked over events with AQ that it made it clear we do not negotiate with terroists? So while having talks with them about leaving their country do you think we should be advocating for them to set up shop in other Islamic Countries?

jgreer
12-23-2011, 11:09 AM
Look we are talking about Taliban in Afghanistan. That is where we invaded and those Taliban are going to be running the county again after we leave. Forget Pakistan for a minute.

MMC
12-23-2011, 11:14 AM
Look we are talking about Taliban in Afghanistan. That is where we invaded and those Taliban are going to be running the county again after we leave. Forget Pakistan for a minute.

So while having talks with them about leaving their country do you think we should be advocating for them to set up shop in other Islamic Countries? Should we be giving anything to the Taliban that deals with politics outside of their country? The talks were for allowing a Peace Accord to take place.

jgreer
12-23-2011, 11:16 AM
I dont think that makes sense not sure why we would want to get them to expand

MMC
12-23-2011, 11:25 AM
I dont think that makes sense not sure why we would want to get them to expand

Which is why I was questioning the Obama Policy on this? :undecided:

Peter1469
12-23-2011, 08:06 PM
do you see the confusion here....agree with you about nation building....as for the taliban they were the material friend of our enemy, providing both aid and comfort and have acted as an enemy killing american soldiers rather than turning over osama/aq....they were and are the enemy....confused thinking will not change the reality on the ground.....osama is dead, to a great degree aq decimated and the taliban living in caves.....we have done what we came to do.....if we had prosecuted war completely without remorse and self deprication then maybe we could have left the theatre feared....now we shall leave as a paper tiger.....maybe we will learn from this episode that war is costly, that there is no such thing as a small imprint and that you cannot outsourse this to nato or anyone else....

I don't see confusion. I see the opportunity that could have been. Had we kept the Taliban prisoners within the theater of conflict as is customary, we would not have had to expend so much political capital defending our position. It really hurt us. I was a JAG working with foreign equivalents and they seriously could not accept our position at all. We literally would have been better off keeping Taliban prisoners inside Afghanistan, squeezing them for intel, then trying them for war crimes and executing them if found guilty. That would have been much more acceptable (assuming the trials weren't corrupt) than moving them from the theater of war.

GRUMPY
12-24-2011, 01:21 AM
I don't see confusion. I see the opportunity that could have been. Had we kept the Taliban prisoners within the theater of conflict as is customary, we would not have had to expend so much political capital defending our position. It really hurt us. I was a JAG working with foreign equivalents and they seriously could not accept our position at all. We literally would have been better off keeping Taliban prisoners inside Afghanistan, squeezing them for intel, then trying them for war crimes and executing them if found guilty. That would have been much more acceptable (assuming the trials weren't corrupt) than moving them from the theater of war.

ah you say tomatoe i say tomato......hang em here or hang em there, just hang em high....

MMC
12-24-2011, 01:49 AM
Thanks for posting something up G-Man. I get tired of seeing mine being the only one on the Home Page during these hours.

MMC
12-24-2011, 01:52 AM
Havent heard much on Petraeus' taking over of the CIA.....what is one's take on this since he has taken on Command?

Peter1469
12-24-2011, 08:34 AM
We can agree on that; my position just doesn't tick off our allies.