Against Odds, Path Opens Up for U.S.-Taliban Talks
Over the last year, Marc Grossman, a veteran but low-key diplomat, led a small team of American officials who met secretly from Doha, Qatar, to Munich with a shadowy representative of Afghanistans Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, in hopes of starting peace talks.
The Obama administrations efforts to negotiate an end to the war, initially brokered by Germanys spy service, showed promise but have been scuttled more than once by rumors, deliberate leaks in Kabul, Islamabad and Washington and the assassination of the top Afghan negotiator in September by a supposed envoy wearing a bomb in his turban, Afghan and Western officials said.
Then, Mr. Grossman and other administration officials were caught by surprise when the Taliban announced last week that they were prepared to take an important step by opening a political office in Qatar.
Now, despite doubts in the administration, misgivings on Capitol Hill and the erratic objections of the most important partner in any potential peace deal President Hamid Karzai the administrations best hope for ending the war in Afghanistan has reached a critical juncture. Next week, Mr. Grossman and his team are rushing back to the region to consult with several allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and if Mr. Karzai gives his blessing, will resume preliminary talks with the Taliban representative before another opportunity slips away.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/world/asia/quest-for-taliban-peace-talks-at-key-juncture.html?pagewanted=all
David__77
(23,372 posts)And maybe avoided a war of aggression against Afghanistan.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)They both perferred warmongering.
David__77
(23,372 posts)A NATION CHALLENGED: THE PRESIDENT; PRESIDENT REJECTS OFFER BY TALIBAN FOR NEGOTIATIONS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 President Bush forcefully rejected another offer from the Taliban today to begin talks about the surrender of Osama bin Laden if the United States stopped bombing Afghanistan.
''When I said no negotiations, I meant no negotiations,'' Mr. Bush told reporters upon landing on the South Lawn of the White House after returning from a weekend of intensive national security briefings at Camp David.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/world/nation-challenged-president-president-rejects-offer-taliban-for-negotiations.html
I still recall the beginning of that terrible bombing campaign. The protests against it here in the US were vigorous, but small in scope. Only a few on the left. I am proud that I opposed it.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)Im not taking Bush's side but I think most any President would have done the same thing. I supported the Afghan war but not the Iraq war. The Taliban and bin Laden deserved what they got.