The Rendering №6

The article “Peace Talks With the Taliban” was published in The New York Times on October, 4. It discusses that American military commanders long ago concluded that the Afghan war could only end in a negotiated settlement with the Taliban, not a military victory. The author considers that persuading militants to negotiate a peace deal was always a daunting challenge and, moreover, the Obama administration has not been persistent enough in figuring out how to initiate talks with a resilient, brutal insurgency that continues to carry out deadly attacks against American and NATO forces.

Analyzing the situation when the United States added 33,000 troops to the 68,000 in Afghanistan and put maximum military pressure on the Taliban it is necessary to note that top generals resisted negotiations, saying the focus should be on military gains but not talks. It was revealed that the talks between the United States and the Taliban began early this year but soon collapsed when the administration, faced with bipartisan opposition in Congress, could not complete a proposed prisoner swap. The correspondent stresses the importance of the Taliban division and unwillingness to meet Washington’s demands to sever all ties to Al Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the commitments to political and human rights in Afghanistan’s Constitution.

There is a general feeling to believe that the United States has not and should not give up completely on a negotiated solution or at least some movement toward reconciliation. It’s necessary to point out that Pakistan recently urged the insurgents to join the political process and agreed to help Washington vet potential new Taliban interlocutors. There are signs that the idea of the 2014 presidential election is an interim agreement under which the Afghan opposition, the Taliban and others might endorse minimum objectives rejecting Al Qaeda and supporting an inclusive political system.

In conclusion the author suggests that with American troops leaving Afghanistan, there should be an interest in advancing a political system that insurgents might see as an alternative to armed conflict. As for me, the peace talks with the Taliban have no sense. These people are terrorists and they have different views on the world. It’s impossible for the Taliban change this way of acting but the US, as a “super powerful country”, can try.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/opinion/peace-talks-with-the-taliban.html?_r=0