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Secret US, Taliban talks reach turning point
By Reuters
Published: December 19, 2011
Secret US, Taliban talks reach turning point – The Express Tribune
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So, was Pakistan involved in the talks this time?
The alleged 'progress' in the talks would explain the statement by Biden at this point in time ...
Absolutely - the question, from a domestic US political standpoint, is whether Obama can deliver a 'negotiated peace in Afghanistan' that does not look like complete capitulation, before the next elections.Chill out...Just because Biden had a 'senior' moment along with his natural brutishness in speech, that does not mean the next administration will not declare otherwise.
Who said our military leadership has no sense of 'strategy' and functions on blind 'ghairat' alone .... (though there have been examples of that in the past ..)
One particular comment by the DG ISPR (Athar Abbas) from an interview a few years ago has always stuck with me - in response to a question about certain Pakistani policy initiatives at that time failing, he responded:
"States never run out of options ..."
Confidence? Flexibility in analyzing and implementing policies?
Wouldn't he be reprimanded by Obama ?Chill out...Just because Biden had a 'senior' moment along with his natural brutishness in speech, that does not mean the next administration will not declare otherwise.
Chill out...Just because Biden had a 'senior' moment along with his natural brutishness in speech, that does not mean the next administration will not declare otherwise.
I agree - given the past failures of much trumpeted 'talks', it is best to wait for some concrete development.Its more of US propaganda than any real "turning point". Some Taliban leadership denied such "turning point" saying there was not even any meaningful discussion started.
The whole US strategy is to create a false sense of breakthrough so core stakeholders, Pakistan who boycotted Bonn conference and Taliban who really matters, feel they have been left out of end game of Afghanistan. But in reality US is grasping for a way out and a way to stick around beyond 2014.
Biden has a history of shooting off his mouth with comments that can quickly be (mis)construed by the public. In this latest gaff, TECHNICALLY speaking, Biden is quite correct, not 100%, but just enough that the White House can spin enough to cover for this idiocy in speech. Biden is not stupid but neither is he an intellectual powerhouse. Personally, I doubt that he is as smart as Obama or even B43, or at best his intellect is comparable to B43, but certainly is far less than B41. Biden's gaffs are to the point where Obama will only just rolled his eyes and regret the day he picked this brute for VP.Wouldn't he be reprimanded by Obama ?
"We didn't invade Afghanistan. We did not send US military personnel into Afghanistan because the Taliban were in power. They had been in power. We went into Afghanistan because al-Qaida had launched an attack against the US from Afghanistan," he said
Taliban is not the US's enemy: Biden - The Times of India
He was Osama's brother-in-law.they invaded Afghanistan because Al Qaeda had a presence there (as they did in other countries). It is indeed unfortunate that Mullah Omar --being extremely headstrong that he is - did not expel these individuals early on....
That is absurd. If you believe that the Taliban should have expel al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, then you should have reasoned out that such action could not have come unless the US have been negotiating with the Taliban for years, more like a decade, to try to get that action done. So there is no 'knee-jerk' reaction about it.The invasion of Afghanistan was a knee-jerk move on US/NATO's part.
Its more of US propaganda than any real "turning point". Some Taliban leadership denied such "turning point" saying there was not even any meaningful discussion started.
The whole US strategy is to create a false sense of breakthrough so core stakeholders, Pakistan who boycotted Bonn conference and Taliban who really matters, feel they have been left out of end game of Afghanistan. But in reality US is grasping for a way out and a way to stick around beyond 2014.