U.S., Taliban to start talks on ending Afghan war

Whew!

Better late than never!

simply renewing old acquaintances ... the US supported and armed the Taliban during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan ...

No matter how you look at this the Taliban have won. The war was launched to drive the Taliban out. Now they (US) will be negotiating with them. In a couple of years it will be back to where things were before the invasion. It has all been for nothing.

Worse thing to ever happen to afghanistan is the United States. Just search Taliban on Wikipedia to see full history.

@nostromo

the US supported and armed the Taliban during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan ...

Yes and we did the same to Iraq with Saddam and now with the Syrian rebels, so what's your point. Do you remember the old, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Then Afghanistan turned with the help of OBL and we went in looking for him, killed many Taliban's that were Hell bent on killing us.

@Simond

Not true, the Taliban are trying, TRYING, but there will be a small force that will stay there, My cousin is over there right now and has been there for about 6 years. With making sure they comeback and the humanitarian needs and economical needs are met accordingly.

Kiyoshi

Worse thing to ever happen to afghanistan is the United States.

The worst thing to ever happen to US was 9/11 caused by OBL who fled and for a long who was hiding in the hills of Afghanistan.

So peace will be achieved when the Taliban give up their core ideals. Is that the deal? No more fighting if the Taliban stop behaving like the Taliban.

So the old "we will not negotiate with the terroists" rhetoric was lies?

Next al qaida will be lining up to have a chat and tell the US what it wants.

About 10 years too late. and as soon as "NATO" leaves, the Taliban will take over again. what a colossal waste of everything this "war" was.

The Taliban were never a threat to the West. George Junior's war has been a horrid waste of lives and taxpayers money.

The 9.11 bombers were wealthy Saudis. 7.7 bomber were middle-class British Muslims. Wage your "war on terror" on them, the real terrorists, not a bunch of tribesmen who couldnt find NY or London a map anyway.

@jeff

What??

The Taliban were never a threat to the West. George Junior's war has been a horrid waste of lives and taxpayers money.

Sorry, that dog don't hunt. Afghanistan is Obama's war, he said, Bush (supposedly made a mistake at looking for the enemy in Iraq) and that the REAL war is in Afghanistan and wanted to relocate and focus on getting OBL and the Taliban in that country. So please blame Obama.

By the way... http://www.meforum.org/483/its-official-taliban-pose-a-danger-to-the-united

The 9.11 bombers were wealthy Saudis. 7.7 bomber were middle-class British Muslims.

Who were they funded by? OBL and the Taliban, which made even more sense to go into Afghanistan and root them out, thanks for making my point for me.

Wage your "war on terror" on them, the real terrorists, not a bunch of tribesmen who couldnt find NY or London a map anyway.

We did and people like my cousin are fighting so that girls have the right to go to school and get an education and to stop the Taliban from Cutting off women's noses or throwing acid in their faces, stop public beatings, castrations and terrorizing people with Sharia law, so YES, soldiers like my cousin will remain in Afghanistan for the time being and to make sure these things will not happen.

@ Bass

YES, soldiers like my cousin will remain in Afghanistan for the time being and to make sure these things will not happen.

Good luck to your cousin and for once I wish I could agree with you. But listening to an interview with an ex-UK ambassador to Kabul, the situation sounds pretty grim.

The Taliban are "at the gates" of three major cities, including Kabul, just waiting for the allies to pull out, and the local forces who are supposed to take over are corrupt and actively cooperating with the Taliban in the laying of IEDs.

Ordinary Afghans, particularly women, are pretty much in despair....

Obama's raising the white flag...

RR

The Taliban met a key U.S. demand by pledging not to use Afghanistan as a base to threaten other countries

12 years of war to get them to pledge not to attack anyone?! Couldn't we have got that in the first place? And if they don't stick to that pledge then what?

@bass4funk

That link is 14 years old. Um, nice try. How many bombs have the Taliban put on airliners since then? The answer: zero. The Taliban don't even care about the West. Their activities are confined to Afghanistan and the surrounding region, which has NO strategic importance to the US. "You walk away from Afghanistan, you walk away with nothing," an analyst once said.

Who were they funded by? Mainly wealthy Saudis and other members of the Al-Qeada, generally oil money, and a few Muslims in the West.

We did No you didn't. Al-Queda has been most strongly concentrated in Saudi Arabia and on that peninsula. So please, tell us all about the US military invasion of Saudi Arabia, then.

I agree the Taliban are a nasty, nasty bunch. But how do its policies on girl's education in rural Afghanistan, etc. pose a threat to the West, exactly?

Another failed war from bush and the republicans. The taliban will control the country like it did before 9-11 and they will do what they please, no one will care. Karzai has already sucked out his billions and will be gone. The war was a huge costly destructive failure that we liberals knew would end up with zero, nothing being accomplished, Just thousands dead and trillions in debt. The taliban offered OBL to bush before the invasion and bush refused. Big, huge, massive mistake. Bush did not want to capture OBL, he let him go in the hills of Tora Bora too after the US military had trapped him. It took Obama finally to kill OBL. If you want a single reason as to why republicans are such failures, here it is. There are so many others but this one is just massive.

@luca

Good luck to your cousin and for once I wish I could agree with you. But listening to an interview with an ex-UK ambassador to Kabul, the situation sounds pretty grim.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

As for your concern, to a point I agree. My cousin and I when I see him, always talks about how cool the people are, but how scary and terrible the Taliban really are and that sometimes, they have to escort girls to school, just so that they can get an education and I he has 3 daughters, so he takes it very seriously. I told him, I am always worried about him and he replied to me, "someone has got to get involved, and help these women." And most don't want to get involved, so should we just abandon these women. It is a very grim paradox.

The Taliban are "at the gates" of three major cities, including Kabul, just waiting for the allies to pull out, and the local forces who are supposed to take over are corrupt and actively cooperating with the Taliban in the laying of IEDs.

Ordinary Afghans, particularly women, are pretty much in despair....

I totally agree. I'd wish they'd do something about that weasel Karzai!

@jeff

@bass4funk

That link is 14 years old. Um, nice try. How many bombs have the Taliban put on airliners since then? The answer: zero. The Taliban don't even care about the West. Their activities are confined to Afghanistan and the surrounding region, which has NO strategic importance to the US. "You walk away from Afghanistan, you walk away with nothing," an analyst once said.

Yeah, I know it is, it was big as day. But it doesn't matter, the story and the results are the same. I know, I have a cousin there. If you choose not to believe it, but I know firsthand, so....

So basically, just screw the women, leave them to their fate and so be it if the Taliban, rape, cut off their noses, torture, castrate men, do honor killings, cut off people's heads. Just flip them and leave? Are you crazy?!

Who were they funded by? Mainly wealthy Saudis and other members of the Al-Qeada, generally oil money, and a few Muslims in the West.

You keep forgetting the one with the biggest pockets, OBL.

We did No you didn't. Al-Queda has been most strongly concentrated in Saudi Arabia and on that peninsula. So please, tell us all about the US military invasion of Saudi Arabia, then.

Let's try that again...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/asia/afghanistan/alqaida.html

Between Pakistan and Afghanistan most of the Taliban were found here and have the strongest concentration.

But thanks for trying.

I agree the Taliban are a nasty, nasty bunch. But how do its policies on girl's education in rural Afghanistan, etc. pose a threat to the West, exactly?

If you don't get it by now, i am afraid that you never will. As I said, my cousin has been there firsthand, so before I believe ANY media reports, I will believe him first, because for the past couple of years, Afghanistan has been his home.

Well we'll just have to see what happens in the future. No one knows.

SuperLIb,

we all know what is going to happen. It is only how fast that is the question.

USA will never leave afghanistan. Their opium farm

And just when they do, the Taliban drop a couple of bloody terror attacks more. Launch some more drones! Talking wont help! These guys only understand the tough way!

bass4funk,

no matter how courageous your cousin in, he is just one man. The whole invasion and 12 year war is a total and absolute failure. The Russians failed and now the US. Nothing is gained, only losses.

Obama's raising the white flag.

Totally agree with you, RR - and about time, too. Do you have any better suggestion?

11 years of war haven't helped. The Taliban aren't going away - it's their country. History shows that without utter conquest and genocide, Rome style, the only way to resolve these conflicts in the end is for the parties to sit down and hammer out some kind of agreement.

I'm in favor of President Karzai taking over his country. How did they survive before the attack by foreign troops?

I'm in favor of President Karzai taking over his country. How did they survive before the attack by foreign troops?

Having been a contractor for the CIA and having insisted that the US should rid the country of the Taliban, Karzai would never have been president had the foreign troops never attacked.

@kiyoshi

USA will never leave afghanistan. Their opium farm

I hope you do know, the Taliban are the ones that are pushing many of these farmers to grow the poppy plants in exchange for security from some of the other ethnic rebel tribes. The US has been trying to offer these farmers lots of money to destroy and to encourage them to grow something else. My cousin 3 years ago was helping with that. Sorry, the last thing the military wants is to bring Opium and more Heroin to the states.

@zur

no matter how courageous your cousin in, he is just one man. The whole invasion and 12 year war is a total and absolute failure. The Russians failed and now the US. Nothing is gained, only losses.

It is a conundrum, ill give you that, but it doesn't mean that we should move all of our forces and especially with what's going on with women in that country.

the Taliban are the ones that are pushing many of these farmers to grow the poppy plants in exchange for security from some of the other ethnic rebel tribes. The US has been trying to offer these farmers lots of money to destroy and to encourage them to grow something else.

Before the invasion of Afghanistan the Taliban cut opium cultivation by 94% to a total of 185 tons. After the invasion, by 2004 cultivation had jumped to a higher-than-ever 131,000 hectares, producing 4,200 tons - a smaller yield than expected due to bad weather, not as a result of any attempts on the part of the invading military to persuade farmers to grow other crops.

http://www.unodc.org/pdf/afg/afghanistan_opium_survey_2004.pdf

it doesn't mean that we should move all of our forces and especially with what's going on with women in that country.

So when are your forces going to move into all the other countries where women are routinely subject to forced marriage, genital mutilation, acid attacks, lack of education and total subordination to men?

So when are your forces going to move into all the other countries where women are routinely subject to forced marriage, genital mutilation, acid attacks, lack of education and total subordination to men?

I have to agree here. I don't think the allied forces were ever in Afghanistan to protect women. It might be a good by-product, but it don't think it was the reason.

@cleo

Before the invasion of Afghanistan the Taliban cut opium cultivation by 94% to a total of 185 tons. After the invasion, by 2004 cultivation had jumped to a higher-than-ever 131,000 hectares, producing 4,200 tons - a smaller yield than expected due to bad weather, not as a result of any attempts on the part of the invading military to persuade farmers to grow other crops.

Yes, this is true, but as a fact, the US has been paying these farmers off as much as they can to find other alternative crop to grow, but often every time they leave, the Taliban sneakingly often try to come back, so they are in a kind of cat and mouse game. But the effort is, they are trying as hard as they can.

So when are your forces going to move into all the other countries where women are routinely subject to forced marriage, genital mutilation, acid attacks, lack of education and total subordination to men?

Good question! I ask myself the same question, we are bogged down, so how about other International forces from other countries take that part of the responsibility, I am in total agreement.

@slum

I have to agree here. I don't think the allied forces were ever in Afghanistan to protect women. It might be a good by-product, but it don't think it was the reason.

But they are, it may not be the main reason, but now it is an important one and they are. Like I said, my kin is there, I trust my own blood who's in the ditches before I trust Any reporter that is judging from the sidelines.

But they are, it may not be the main reason, but now it is an important one and they are

I think the main goal was and still is to oust the Taliban. While I agree that protecting women is a wonderful by-product, I wonder how much protection they will have once the allies leave.

Like I said, my kin is there, I trust my own blood who's in the ditches before I trust Any reporter that is judging from the sidelines.

I'm sure you can trust your kin when they tell you why they are there, however that does not mean it is the same reason why they were sent there. I am not going by what any reporter says, but by what the allied governments have been saying. They went in to get rid of the Taliban as a result of the attack on 911. Any help towards women is a by-product, but it is not the stated reason for them being there.

It took this long for Obama to finally wake up to reality? No amount of lying the Obama propaganda cant hide the reality that the war has been a catastrophic disaster for the Afghan people and for the tens of thousands of innocent killed in courtesy of Obama. Obama has turned more people against USA than what Taliban could even hoped for.