Taliban Brits arms-length deal with the devil

[BitWhys]

how dare they! damn them all to hell...

Britain exits troubled Afghan town

The troops left 'because of the sustained period of calm,' Laity said, adding that Afghan security forces answerable to the Afghan government would now be in charge of security there. 'There has not been any contact with the Taliban and they are not involved in this.'

of course not...

Official heartened by Afghans' wish for peace

Under the agreement, troops would not launch offensives in the area. In return, the elders would press the Taliban to stop attacks, a NATO spokesman said.

who'da thought local elders could have peace-based discussion with the evil evil Taliban?

someone wake up the NATO laison to the DIAG Forum. he's got an initiative to squash before it cuts into his lunch hour.

hope it lasts.

 

[northstar]

thanks for the post, could you share where you got these quotes from, l need to read the whole story before I add my comments. Thanks in advance.

 

[BitWhys]

no problem, but the article titles links are working in MY browser...

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/10/17/2048921-ap.html
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1477332006

 

[northstar]

Oh, I apologize, I didn't realize those where links!duh...well, now l am a little more computer savvy, thanks to you....

I would think that they know what they are doing, and if the Taliban re-emerges then it would be great if they are actually facing the new empowered Afghans.

Sooner or later the Afghans have to stand up for themselves and God Knows they have have a steady stream of money and humanitarian aid to prop up a peaceful and for now at least, a change from the repression and misery suffered under the Taliban rule.

Hopefully this will not be a mistake.

Like you, l suspect it is...

 

[EastSideScotian]

So basicly the Taliban Live to fight another day......

Great Idea..... That way they can get alittle more training in ebfore heading off to find Canadians Building a road, and go kill some of them.

I thought this was a war, against the Taliban, letting them comfortable should be the last thought on our minds. We sholdnt let them be untill the surrender all their arms, and then we can know for sure their will be some peace, and Nato troops wont be dying.

 

[BitWhys]

Like you, l suspect it is...

oh I don't know about that. I think its shakey, but that instability involves more than just the Taliban. Not to dis the homegrown talent, but I read an article a couple weeks back that pointed out one of the reasons Panjewan turned sour was the governer that got appointed to it was not only from a rival group but a total asshole to boot. Then we have to worry about the Afghans actually getting the help they need to build a government around this opportunity. For the last five years all we've been doing in the south, really, is blowing stuff up. Might be hard to get the system to change gears, let alone see the international advisors to take the Afghani planners seriously.

but...
you know...
hope springs eternal.

 

[northstar]

It will be interesting to see how it pans out. After all, they can't just change the entire system and impose a new set of cultural values on these people. Eventually, the troops will have to withdrawal and let the new government take over. Hopefully the Taliban will be controled and cowed. Okay, a little unrealistic, but wouldn't it be great if this was the beginning of a surrender???

 

[BitWhys]

here's a newsflash for all the cubicle commandos out there.

...We sholdnt let them be untill the surrender all their arms...

By the UN mandate Grandstand Steve waves around in parliament at least once a week, that's not NATO's call. Don't be embarrassed, though. I'm sure Steven has no clue about that either. He's too busy supporting the troops to be bothered with a detail like that.

 

[BitWhys]

It will be interesting to see how it pans out. After all, they can't just change the entire system and impose a new set of cultural values on these people. Eventually, the troops will have to withdrawal and let the new government take over. Hopefully the Taliban will be controled and cowed. Okay, a little unrealistic, but wouldn't it be great if this was the beginning of a surrender???

From what I can gather there's plenty of room to find a working solution to the disparity between what we think the Taliban want and the basic human rights the Afghani central government will rightly insist upon. especially if the citizens in whatever areas the Taliban may eventually control democratically can vote with their feet.