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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUS-Taliban Talks in Doha: The West's Capitulation in Afghanistan
After 12 years of war and thousands of deaths on both sides, the US and the Taliban are finally ready to talk peace. While the West hopes to smooth its withdrawal, human rights organizations forecast the return of dark times for women and minorities.
In April 2007, Kurt Beck, then the head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), suggested that there should be a peace conference for Afghanistan that would include all of the relevant groups, including the Taliban. The idea earned him nothing but scorn. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives vented their ire, and Rangin Spanta, Afghanistan's foreign minister at the time, went so far as to brand Beck clueless.
But now, six years later, Beck's idea is actually being implemented. On Tuesday, the Taliban held an opening celebration for its new office in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Islamists want to host peace negotiations there with the Afghan government and the White House. Afghan President Hamid Karzai remains coy on the issue, but talks between the Taliban and the US government are supposed to kick off within the next few days.
The parties to the conflict have already been holding secret talks for some years, and representatives have also met in Germany on several occasions. But now, for the first time since the beginning of international military intervention in the Hindu Kush in 2001, the Taliban will take an official seat at the negotiation table. The extremists had refused to participate in any of the previous Afghanistan conferences, which have been held at irregular intervals.
In April 2007, Kurt Beck, then the head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), suggested that there should be a peace conference for Afghanistan that would include all of the relevant groups, including the Taliban. The idea earned him nothing but scorn. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives vented their ire, and Rangin Spanta, Afghanistan's foreign minister at the time, went so far as to brand Beck clueless.
But now, six years later, Beck's idea is actually being implemented. On Tuesday, the Taliban held an opening celebration for its new office in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Islamists want to host peace negotiations there with the Afghan government and the White House. Afghan President Hamid Karzai remains coy on the issue, but talks between the Taliban and the US government are supposed to kick off within the next few days.
The parties to the conflict have already been holding secret talks for some years, and representatives have also met in Germany on several occasions. But now, for the first time since the beginning of international military intervention in the Hindu Kush in 2001, the Taliban will take an official seat at the negotiation table. The extremists had refused to participate in any of the previous Afghanistan conferences, which have been held at irregular intervals.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-talks-with-taliban-in-doha-mark-capitulation-in-afghanistan-a-907199.html
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US-Taliban Talks in Doha: The West's Capitulation in Afghanistan (Original Post)
FarCenter
Jun 2013
OP
Don't know when it was written. It was posted by Der Spiegel only 3 hours ago.
FarCenter
Jun 2013
#2
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)1. I'm wondering if that was written before this
Afghanistan peace talks: US-Taliban meeting in Qatar cancelled http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014513154
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)2. Don't know when it was written. It was posted by Der Spiegel only 3 hours ago.
See the section "Emboldened Taliban Toys with Karzai".
Eventually Karzai and all his kin leave the country -- or they die. I don't believe that the Pashtun code allows them to let Pashtun collaborators with the enemy to live. Members of other ethnic groups may be treated more leniently, particularly if they can hold and defend areas in the North and West, perhaps with help from the Russians, Central Asians and Chinese.
msongs
(67,441 posts)3. afghanistan culture is 1000 yrs old, predating the taliban And Islam - it will be back to its old
ways and we can do little to nothing about that ever