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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts) Tue Feb 4, 2014, 07:27 AM Feb 2014

Afghanistan's Karzai in secret talks with Taliban - report

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has been holding secret talks with Taliban officials in the hope of persuading them to make peace with his government, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed Afghan and Western officials.

Karzai's spokesman could not reached for comment. But the Times, in its report, said the spokesman had confirmed contact had been made and described the past two months as positive.

Officials, however, told the paper the Taliban-initiated talks had been fruitless so far, although they may help explain Karzai's mounting public hostility to Washington.

In November - around the same time the secret talks reportedly began - Karzai announced his intention to avoid signing a bilateral security deal with the United States until after a presidential election in April. Karzai has served two terms and cannot run again.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/04/uk-afghanistan-karzai-idUKBREA130E820140204

12 replies

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Afghanistan's Karzai in secret talks with Taliban - report (Original Post) dipsydoodle Feb 2014 OP

Karzai is a fool if he thinks Taliban will follow any covenants in a contract cosmicone Feb 2014 #1

The Taliban have no cause to wish him harm. dipsydoodle Feb 2014 #3

Afghani Taliban is 90% active duty Pakistani military cosmicone Feb 2014 #4

Considering you make such a bold statement MyNameGoesHere Feb 2014 #5

Read some here.. cosmicone Feb 2014 #11

Ok done MyNameGoesHere Feb 2014 #12

I don't care if its 90% Muhammad "I'm hard" Bruce Lee dipsydoodle Feb 2014 #9

The "meeting" consists of "Please dont kill me when the Americans leave" 7962 Feb 2014 #2

This is good news. These are the people he'll be dealing with, and they represent a large part of .. marble falls Feb 2014 #6

The CIA installed little puppet brother blinks warrant46 Feb 2014 #7

did we send another plane stuffed with cash? mopinko Feb 2014 #8

He wants to live and enjoy his Swiss bank accounts jsr Feb 2014 #10

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)

1. Karzai is a fool if he thinks Taliban will follow any covenants in a contract

Reply to dipsydoodle (Original post)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 07:34 AM

Feb 2014

Taliban is simply stalling for time so Karzai won't take the proper precautions pe-US-withdrawal and then attack.

Karzai will end up dead if he doesn't stop this madness.

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)

3. The Taliban have no cause to wish him harm.

Reply to cosmicone (Reply #1)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 08:18 AM

Feb 2014

Karzai has already made it perfectly clear to the US that if they do stay in Afghanistan the Taliban will become completely off limits to them. The US will be solely restricted to the pursuit whatever of any remaining al-qaeda members currently suspected to be less than a hundred.

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)

4. Afghani Taliban is 90% active duty Pakistani military

Reply to dipsydoodle (Reply #3)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 09:24 AM

Feb 2014

and their ultimate goal is to occupy and control Afghanistan as a "strategic depth policy."

Pakistan will never share power in Afghanistan.

The key to victory in Afghanistan was always ending all aid to Pakistan of every kind and destroy a lot of key assets to cut Pakistani military down to a size reasonable for a country of that magnitude.

MyNameGoesHere

(7,638 posts)

5. Considering you make such a bold statement

Reply to cosmicone (Reply #4)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:12 AM

Feb 2014

with a pretty exact number, would you be so kind to show me where you found this number? I am intrigued and have failed in my research so far.

In addition it seems that policy wonks are divided on what Strategic Depth policy is. It runs from being a policy modeled after Israels own strategic depth policy, to something as evil to launch a first strike against India. Yet officially it has been nixed since 2001. So what are your internal assets in Pakistan saying?

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)

11. Read some here..

Reply to MyNameGoesHere (Reply #5)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 11:00 AM

Feb 2014

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsubweb.diis.dk%2Fgraphics%2FPublications%2FReports2011%2FRP2011-08-Pakistans-future-policy_web.pdf&ei=Av_wUoGaBMjD7AbR34HoCA&usg=AFQjCNFeJlzoFyQjTCXBNBK2GxKj8C7oyA&bvm=bv.60444564,d.ZGU

Also, google "Kunduz Airlift" where Musharraf hoodwinked Dubya and evacuated all Pakistani forces in Taliban right under America's nose. They should have been captured or killed instead of allowing Pakistan to let them escape.

MyNameGoesHere

(7,638 posts)

12. Ok done

Reply to cosmicone (Reply #11)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 11:41 AM

Feb 2014

Now where is your 90% Pakistan Military Taliban proof? I just don't see it from a policy paper by a group that was established by law to add a Right wing point of view to policy research?

dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)

9. I don't care if its 90% Muhammad "I'm hard" Bruce Lee

Reply to cosmicone (Reply #4)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 10:39 AM

Feb 2014

Its their affair.

Karzai in only there until April He's not standing for re-election which is part of the background to not signing the new agreement - said to leave it to whoever replaces him.

Title quote is by Brick Top in the movie Snatch.

7962

(11,841 posts)

2. The "meeting" consists of "Please dont kill me when the Americans leave"

Reply to dipsydoodle (Original post)

Tue Feb 4, 2014, 08:13 AM

Feb 2014

Sooner we get out the better. We did what we came to do, and we were never going to rid the country of Taliban anyway unless we were willing to wage war the old fashioned way. And these days nobody would support that. Afghanistan isnt Japan or Germany or even Vietnam.