Sunday, March 01, 2009

The Price Of Negotiating With The Taliban

"If anybody really wants to wage jihad, he must fight the occupation forces inside Afghanistan. Attacks on Pakistani security forces by militants in the tribal areas and elsewhere in Pakistan are harming the war against U.S and NATO forces in Afghanistan."

- Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, in a letter to the commanders of the Pakistani Taliban, urging them to immediately stop attacks on the Pakistani army.


2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

If there's one thing the Taliban and friends can be relied upon for, it's reneging on any peace deal they sign. It surely won't be long until another suicide bomb goes off somewhere in Pakistan.

Interesting to note in the Rashid piece that the drone strikes have successfully taken away some FATA territory as a safe haven. The CW on the strikes is that they destabilize Pakistan for short-term military success.

The prospect of a major spring offensive makes Karzai's call for April/May elections very worrying.

1:54 PM  
Blogger Terry Glavin said...

I think it's a safe bet that Omar has the elections foremost in his plans. Logistically, fall would be better - after the harvest, before the snows. And fairer to Karzai's challengers besides.

2:04 PM  

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