Take Off Rose-Colored Glasses when it comes to Taliban Reconciliation
Lisa Curtis /
Before concluding that today’s New York Times article on Taliban outreach to Karzai means that an Afghan settlement is on the horizon, consider today’s other news from Afghanistan, which includes a suicide attack that killed the Deputy Governor of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. The point is the Taliban may be reaching out to the Karzai government less to negotiate a compromise and more toward establishing a perception of their inevitable return to power in the country. A recent Wall Street Journal article reports that key leaders of Afghanistan’s ethnic minority communities oppose President Karzai’s outreach to the Taliban, which they say could lead to the Taliban’s return to power and the outbreak of ethnic-based civil war.
Good strategy on the U.S. part would involve willingness to back negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban leadership only when an assessment is made that the Taliban is ready for compromise. Such a compromise would have to involve the Taliban breaking ranks with al-Qaeda and disavowing the global terrorist agenda and committing to maintaining rights for women and minorities. Otherwise, U.S. blood and treasure invested in Afghanistan over the last nine years will have been for nothing. (more…)