Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds talks with Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin, Germany, April 14, 2011 about an Afghanistan timeline
(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images/Getty)
On Tuesday, after months of denying it was interested in participating in formal talks to end the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban indicated it would consider opening a political office in Qatar. A political office would give mediators from the U.S. a legitimate contact for Taliban members. No details have been given about when these negotiations would begin, or what would be bargained for. This step also implies that there will continue to be some kind of Taliban presence inside Afghanistan.
Joshua Foust, correspondent for The Atlantic and a fellow at the American Security Project, explains what this could mean for U.S.-Afghan relations.
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Comments [2]
The Bush family worked with the Taliban before 9/11. The Bushes didn't see anything wrong with it. Who cares of the Taliban open up offices in Karachi? Now we can keep an eye on them AND separate them from Al Qaeda (the criminal organization bent on world domination). Divide and defeat.
I don't see the cry-babies opposing our doing business with the Chinese - who are STILL communist and ARE bent on world domination. You think that's over the top? Hey, no one builds a large navy unless they plan on using it.
So the Obama Administration "got hoodwinked a little while ago by a fruit seller in Karachi" as they seriously consider negotiations with the Taliban who helped facilitate 9/11 and who say they have no intention of negotiating with the US led by the Obama Administration which stands hat in hand as they drastically cut defense spending? How long before the Taliban opens a "political office" in Egypt, Libya or Iran?
How long before our allies see we cannot even take a stand against those who were involved in the destruction of the World Trade Center and start abandoning the US and make other alliances in the 21st Century?
This kind of foreign policy along with a destructive economic policy is how superpowers decline and fall which was exactly the goal of Osama Bin Laden, wasn't it?
The almost hand wringing, respectful and conciliatory tone when discussing the Taliban is a stark contrast to the combative tone reserved for "the zealots" in the Republican Party leading a peaceful and lawful opposition.
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