What the Debate Missed on Afghanistan: Brits Say Talk to Taliban

October 7 marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

Our British allies are telling us that there is no military solution, that there must be a political solution, and that there should be talks with the Taliban. It would be a step forward for U.S. policy if the Presidential candidates would acknowledge this reality in the next Presidential debate on October 15.

The top British military commander in Afghanistan says, "We're not going to win this war," and "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this."

The British government supported the commander's statements: a spokesman said the UK's ministry of defense "did not have a problem" with warning the UK public not to expect a "decisive military victory" and to prepare instead for a possible deal with the Taliban.

Meetings between Taliban representatives and Afghan government officials took place recently in Saudi Arabia.

Defense Secretary Gates made partially supportive remarks. Gates endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban or other militants in Afghanistan who may be considered reconcilable, much like what has happened in Iraq.

But what Gates didn't acknowledge was the need to bring in people at a higher level than individual fighters, which would likely involve political accommodation. In Iraq after 2006 the U.S. brought in leaders, and made accommodation for groups with political demands, such as integration into the Iraqi army.

Some may wish to postpone confronting the uncomfortable reality of Afghanistan until after the election. But the danger is that the candidates will lock us into a policy of military escalation, which without a new political strategy, is almost certainly doomed to fail. That would mean more needless American and Afghan deaths before we accommodate reality. Why not begin accommodating reality now, and avoid the needless deaths?

Ask the Presidential candidates and debate moderator Bob Schieffer to acknowledge reality in Afghanistan.

Comments

[mamacat]

It appears that in Iraq we have been following a policy of assassinating opposition leaders whenever possible. That is also a policy that we followed in Vietnam. It would be extremely foolhardy for leaders of the Taliban to trust an American leadership that has shown how it "negotiates".

The Taliban represent at least 1/3 of the population, maybe as much as 1/2. After failing to get them to attack al Qaeda, we have demonised them as intractable enemies. They are certainly very different from us, but if a large segment of the population identifies with them, we may, as we do with the Saudis, have to learn to accept the differences. We recognise that there are different segments in Iraqi society, and we need to respect that there are also different peoples in Afghanistan. There are segments that may be willing to accept our military and civilian assistance, and there will be a Taliban segment, that will be very distrustful of us for a long time.

It seems to me that the fact of the matter is that if we wish to respect the idea of self-rule in Afghanistan, then we are going to have to realise that a large part of the country, the Pashtun part, identifies with the Taliban. We have seen the importance of learning to get along with the Sunni in Iraq, and we should strive for a similar accomodation with the Pashtun and the Taliban.

[Fez]

Afghanistan is a country that has been invaded numerous times but never conquered. Even Alexander the Great was reduced to Alexander the Marginal by the warrior tribes he encountered there. Afghanis also cleaned the clocks of the British and Russians in the last century. So why wouldn't we sit down and negotiate with the Taliban? Sure, they're violent and evil but they are IN CONTROL and will continue if we don't get them to the negotiating table. The US would be well advised to listen to the British on this issue. If we do this right, we might even learn where Bin Laden is holed up so we can finish that job.