Taliban to Start Talks With U.S. and Afghan Government

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban announced on Tuesday that they were prepared to take the first step toward peace negotiations with the Afghan government after 12 years of war, and American officials said that they would meet with Taliban representatives in Qatar within the week to start the process.

If talks begin, it will be the first time that the antagonists in the Afghanistan war have undertaken negotiations to end the conflict, begun in 2001 when American forces entered the country to rout Al Qaeda. Efforts to get such talks started have long been stalled, hijacked by conflicting demands from the main parties with long-term goals in Afghanistan: the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai, the exiled Taliban leadership, the United States and Pakistan.

In a televised speech announcing the opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of Qatar, Mohammed Naim, a Taliban spokesman, said that their political and military goals “are limited to Afghanistan” and that they did not wish to “harm other countries.”

Senior Obama administration officials in Washington said the Taliban statement contained two crucial pledges: that the insurgents believed that Afghan soil should not be used to threaten other countries — an indirect reference to Al Qaeda’s sheltering in Afghanistan with the Taliban regime’s blessing before the Sept. 11 attacks — and that they were committed to finding a peaceful solution to the war.

“Together, they fulfill the requirement for the Taliban to open a political office in Doha for the purposes of negotiation with the Afghan government,” a senior administration official said.

American officials had long insisted that the Taliban make both pledges before talks start. The first element, in particular, is vital — it represents the beginning of what is hoped will be the Taliban’s eventual public break with Al Qaeda, the officials said. The ultimate goal of such talks, from a Western and Afghan government point of view, would be to persuade the Taliban to disarm and accept the Afghan Constitution. But officials warned that many hurdles remained in what was sure to be a long process.

President Obama called the Taliban’s announcement “an important first step towards reconciliation.”

But “it is a very early step,” Mr. Obama said at a meeting with President François Hollande of France at a Group of 8 summit meeting in Northern Ireland. “We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road.”

In the next step, United States officials said, American envoys will meet later this week with Taliban representatives in Qatar. Members of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, which is to represent the government in talks, will then sit down with the insurgents.

But the first meetings will probably feature little more than an exchange of agendas, another senior administration official said, cautioning against expectations for the talks to yield substantive results any time soon. Indeed, one major obstacle for the peace process has been the outright refusal of Taliban negotiators to talk directly with Mr. Karzai’s administration.

“There is no guarantee that this will happen quickly, if at all,” the official said.

President Karzai referred to the impending opening of the office earlier in comments at a ceremony celebrating the transfer of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces from the American-led multinational forces in Afghanistan.

While he signaled his acceptance of the office’s opening, Mr. Karzai has repeatedly said that the talks must be Afghan-led, implying that the neither the United States nor the Pakistanis should be interlocutors. And he wants the talks held in Afghanistan.

Both demands are difficult to meet. Realistically both Pakistan and the United States have to be guarantors of any peace effort. Ultimately it is the United States that has bargaining chips — the Taliban prisoners that it holds at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — that might help bring the Taliban to the table. And Pakistan, as the home of most of the Taliban leadership and as the place where they have been able to receive funding and training for the fight, would have to play a role in encouraging the Taliban and backing their participation in a peace plan.

As for relocating the peace talks in Kabul, the Taliban are opposed to that because they feel they would be at an immediate disadvantage on the turf of their opponents, the Afghan government.

“The president should not use the term ‘immediately’ or ‘as soon as possible’ in talking about moving the peace negotiations to Afghanistan,” said Sayed Agha Akbar, a onetime Taliban commander now living in Kabul.

“Using such inflammatory words would be a serious blow to the peace talks at the moment when they are about to start.”

The Taliban statement on Monday said that in addition to initial negotiations, the Doha office would be used to explain the group’s views to other countries, and to meet with representatives of the United Nations and with regional, international and nongovernmental organizations. The Taliban also said they planned to give media statements about the current political situation.

Mr. Karzai’s concern is that the Taliban will use the office as a forum to try to re-establish their political legitimacy, especially in international circles, rather than confining the office to peace talks.

“Peace is the desire of the people of Afghanistan,” Mr. Karzai said at a Kabul news conference after the transfer ceremony. “Peace is a hope that the people of Afghanistan make sacrifices for every day.”

Talks between the United States and the Taliban “can help advance the process, but the core of it is going to be negotiations among Afghans and the level of trust on both sides is extremely low, as one would expect,” the second senior Obama administration official said. “So it is going to be a long, hard process if indeed it advances significantly at all.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/world/asia/taliban-ready-for-peace-talks-to-end-afghan-war.html?src=twr&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

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This is potentially huge. Can we finally see peace in Afghanistan and the decline in talibans?

On the other side Pakistan wants to do the same and whenever Pakistan and the Pakistan Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban) agree to talk, US goes and kills one of their high ranking leaders and then it's back to square one

The Pakistani Taliban and Afghani Taliban are both different, the Afghani are relatively less aggressive then Tehrik-i-Taliban who will all out kill anyone, ISI still has many connections within Afghani group but have little or no control over Tehrik-i-Taliban who basicly run alot of the tribal areas of Pakistan

So shameful of the Obama administration, then again its proven that we cannot civilize uncivilized people by now.

Negotiating with the Taliban is the same as negotiating with the Nazi regime during WWII... it's unconscionable.

Taliban will be controlling the country within a year of the troops pulling out.

If anyone has an hour and a half to spare, watch this great recent documentary from Vice. It's insane.

Once they started negotiating with Taliban, pakisthan now started sending more terrorists to India via Kashmir.What a surprise.

Adit wrote:Once they started negotiating with Taliban, pakisthan now started sending more terrorists to India via Kashmir.What a surprise.

GTFO of Kashmir!

Pakistan will stop sending terrorists when India and RAW stop supporting separatists in Balochistan.

#ConspiracyTheoriesFTW

i am 99% sure  RAW does have some hand in Balochistan (helping the separatist by by arming them) like they did for Bangladesh.

RAW isn't as corrupt as ISI but they aren't angels eithers

Until both Intelligence Agencies stop things will keep as is it

Il Diavolo wrote:

Adit wrote:Once they started negotiating with Taliban, pakisthan now started sending more terrorists to India via Kashmir.What a surprise.

GTFO of Kashmir!

Pakistan will stop sending terrorists when India and RAW stop supporting separatists in Balochistan.

#ConspiracyTheoriesFTW

GTFO Kashmir? lol

Our land our people.problem?

RAW is controlled by India govt...and Indian Govt has complete control over both of our intelligence agency and Army.


While in Pakisthan There is Army...there is GOvt....and there is ISI

All of them works separately and Pakistan GOVT can be described as jailer of the Army and Pak taliban.

so ur saying Govt is willingly helping the insurgents in Baloch?

Adit wrote:

Il Diavolo wrote:

Adit wrote:Once they started negotiating with Taliban, pakisthan now started sending more terrorists to India via Kashmir.What a surprise.

GTFO of Kashmir!

Pakistan will stop sending terrorists when India and RAW stop supporting separatists in Balochistan.

#ConspiracyTheoriesFTW

GTFO Kashmir? lol

Our land our people.problem?

RAW is controlled by India govt...and Indian Govt has complete control over both of our intelligence agency and Army.


While in Pakisthan  There is Army...there is GOvt....and there is ISI

All of them works separately and Pakistan GOVT can be described as jailer of the Army and Pak taliban.

OK, it's disputed territory and I don't want to get into this fight. Secondly, if the Indian govt. does have control over RAW, then they should stop meddling in our affairs.

Didnt know where to put it but a great documentary on what's actually going on in Afghanistan by VICE. I highly recommend checking out the whole video.



If you dont want to watch the video then here is the VICE article on it:

http://www.vice.com/read/this-is-what-winning-looks-like-0000111-v20n5

juveman17 wrote:Didnt know where to put it but a great documentary on what's actually going on in Afghanistan by VICE. I highly recommend checking out the whole video.



If you dont want to watch the video then here is the VICE article on it:

http://www.vice.com/read/this-is-what-winning-looks-like-0000111-v20n5

Already posted it in this thread. Pretty crazy, huh? Some of that stuff made me sick, felt for the Major who had to liase with those pedophile Afghan leaders. He seemed kind of broken by it all. They have no chance once we all pull out and leave them to it.

Yea didnt read this at all :lol

But yea the Major is a great man shame he can't solve all his problems in Afghanistan

juveman17 wrote:Yea didnt read this at all :lol

But yea the Major is a great man shame he can't solve all his problems in Afghanistan

Defo , this country need more ppl like him. unfortunately ...

Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30491435

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I am lost for words.

Why, what the actual f?

Islam shouldv do a internal investigation on why too many radical groups are being formed in that religion. Lack of education is one thing but it can't be the sole reason as there are so many uneducated religious people every where.

Adit wrote:Islam shouldv do a internal investigation on why too many radical groups are being formed in that religion. Lack of education is one thing but it can't be the sole reason as there are so many uneducated religious people every where.

There's no need for an internal investigation. Most of these groups are politically motivated. They use religion to get people behind them because a lot of people tend to not use much logic when it comes to religion. Lets take a look at the two biggest "Islamist" terrorist groups in the world at the moment:

1. ISIS: Formed by Syrian rebels who were fighting against Bashar-al-Assad, backed and funded by the US and its allies.
2. Al Qaeda/Taliban: Formed as a militia to drive the Soviet Army out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, also backed and funded by the US and its allies.

Most other groups in western Pakistan and Afghanistan are insignificant and mainly sub-ordinates.

I'm not claiming that these groups continue to get support from the US, but just pointing out that their origins are political and don't have much to do with Islam.

Looks like the Afghan government is prepared to hand the power to Taliban without putting up a fight, what a bunch of cucks

Pedram wrote:Looks like the Afghan government is prepared to hand the power to Taliban without putting up a fight, what a bunch of cucks

They have nothing to fight back with. Most of their army surrendered (they probably believe in Taliban more than America's proxy government). Kabul will fall comfortably.

Not sure where Afghanistan is headed at this point.

there's currently a british guy called Lord Miles in Kabul having a wonderful time. pic.twitter.com/nW4R9d6VVB

— Rimmy (@Rimmy_Downunder) August 15, 2021

BREAKING: Afghan President Ghani has fled the country. “That’s it. It’s over,” U.S. official says

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 15, 2021

lol

Well that whole affair worked out great in the end

Well done, everyone

I'm just really glad we all entered a coalition to respond with military action to a crime. At least we didn't waste thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.

Worth it for the memes.

Well at least heroin production got a boost for another 20 years. So, it wasn't for nothing.