US to hold direct peace talks with Taliban

[Michin Khel]

We should all know this whole war was for heroin by now. Taliban and the Pashtun Mafia are the biggest producers of it. No wonder they want peace talks.

What a stupid conclusion

[khushal]

The Islamic Emirate does not wish to harm other countries from its soil and neither will it allow others use Afghan soil to pose a threat to the security of other nations!

This particular sentence can be read and interpreted in two different ways:

1. The Taliban do not wish to allow Al Qaeda to attack other countries from its soil

2. We won’t allow American permanent bases in Afghanistan to pose as a threat to Iran and Pakistan
.

This is what I was telling admin khan. If AQ used afghan soil to attack America which brought on the wrath of the americans on the afghan people then why is it OK for America to use afghan soil to attack others in the region, would that not also allow the wrath of those nations on the afghan people. Would China, Rusia and pakistan not have nuclear armed missiles aimed at Afghanistan. Historically, Afghanistan was only stable when it was neutral.

[khushal]

The resistance is bigger than the Taliban. the commanders on the ground have their own reasons why they fight US forces and the ANA. If you look at wardak alone, the kochis fight the US not because they hate americans but because they have beef with the hazaras. All America is doing is getting in the middle of a fight that is not theirs. Those Kochis and hazaras are not going to give a shyt about any talks in Qatar. You have commanders taking money in exchange of putting down arms and when the money dries up , they go back to fighting.

Besides that, didn't they try this already like a year ago. Are the Taliban not just waiting the US out.

And here it is:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...tan-talks.html
Taliban fighters reject Afghanistan talks

Taliban fighters on the frontline in Afghanistan say they have sacrificed too much to join peace negotiations and will continue their campaign of violence until American forces have left the country.

Taliban fighters on the frontline in Afghanistan say they have sacrificed too much to join peace negotiations Photo: EPA








By Zubair Babakarkhail, Kabul, and Rob Crilly, Islamabad

1:56PM BST 20 Jun 2013



Analysts believe many of the older generation of commanders have been targeted by drones and special forces during the past 12 years of war, giving way to younger recruits with little memory of the Taliban government and still less interest in compromise.


The comments – collected from fighters in the southern and eastern areas of the country – underline the challenges faced by negotiators in Doha, where American and Qatari officials are trying to salvage a new round of talks.

And they underline the potential for splits within the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.


Mohammed Hashim, a Taliban fighter in Chinarto district of Uruzgan, said Mr Karzai’s government was riddled with corruption and its word could not be trusted.

“When a person is ready to get killed or kill the enemy, then he does not care of talks,” he said by telephone.

“We are here in frontlines to fight against the crusaders.

“If anyone representing us goes and talks with our enemy in luxury and air-conditioned places, we won’t accept their decisions”

Tensions have arisen before between recruits risking their lives during the latest fighting season and senior commanders staying in smart hotels in Doha.
“Our leaders are enjoying air-conditioned rooms, driving luxury cars and living in good houses while we live a troubled life fighting in Afghanistan,” a fighter told the Daily Beast in April as resentment and splits in the movement grew.
One of the key questions is whether the Taliban’s main interlocutor, Tayeb Agha, still has the backing of Mullah Omar, the movement’s leader, and whether the rank-and-file are united or split behind their leadership.

Graeme Smith, an analyst in Kabul with the International Crisis Group, said an attack in May on the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jalalabad, which was later disowned by the Taliban, suggested a fragmenting insurgency with freelance operations being carried out.
“You’ll hear from fighters they don’t have much interest in what’s going on in Qatar,” he said.

“The negotiators may be the best available at the moment but they haven’t yet shown any evidence that they control events on the ground.”
His words were echoed by Mullah Ihsanullah Akhund, leader of a Taliban platoon in Helmand province, where British troops are based, who welcomed news that the movement had opened an office in Doha and raised its flag.

He said he was fighting to bring a pure Islamic government to the country but did not want to see control of the country shared – one of the possible outcomes of talks.
He said: “I was delighted to hear that the Taliban has raised the flag of Islamic emirate, but who knows what happens next?

“Maybe our leaders will agree on a compromise and forget about their goals.
“We want a pure Islamic government - whether that comes through fight or talks - but we will never join the current government which is established by the West, where the Islamic laws are violated.”