Against Odds, Path Opens Up for U.S.-Taliban Talks

[pinto]

New York Times
By Steven Lee Myers Matthew Rosenberg and Eric Schmitt
Published: January 11, 2012

WASHINGTON — 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 Afghanistan’s Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, in hopes of starting peace talks.

The Obama administration’s efforts to negotiate an end to the war, initially brokered by Germany’s 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 administration’s 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/world/asia/quest-for-taliban-peace-talks-at-key-juncture.html?_r=1&hp

[tabatha]

1. I really hope this works.

I hope that some in the ME see that ongoing conflicts there affect US Presidential elections in the worst possible way.

[Robb]

2. I've opined on this before, but I'll repeat:

*Everyone* who is involved in this with the sincere goal of peace is a better person than me.

I hope they succeed. It won't be because of people like me if they do. I still hope they do.