The other day I posted an update on the war in Afghanistan, now being characterized as "grim" by an unreleased National Intelligence Estimate. Included in the post were comments by NATO commander, Gen. David McKiernan, suggesting a longer term solution may lie with some reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
General
David McKiernan said reconciliation efforts should be led by the Afghan
Government, but the military would support it. Asked if dealing with
the man who harboured al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was beyond the
pale, he said: "I think that's a political decision."
"Ultimately, the solution in Afghanistan is going to be a political
solution not a military solution," he said. "We're not going to run out
of bad guys there."
New information suggests those moves are already occurring. A recent NY Times article outlined Afghanistan President Karzai's call for the Saudis to become involved in peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Yesterday, there were reports that contact has occurred.
A
former Taliban ambassador said Monday that the hard-line militants sat
with Afghan officials and Saudi King Abdullah over an important
religious meal in Saudi Arabia late last month as the insurgency raged
back home.
Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's former ambassador to
Pakistan, denied that the get-together could be construed as peace
talks. But President Hamid Karzai has long called for negotiations with
the Taliban, and the meeting could spur future initiatives.
It's also being reported today that former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif is offering to broker talks, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia, between the Taliban and the Karzai government.
Presumably, any peace agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government, in order to be sanctioned by the U.S., must include a Taliban rebuke of al Qaeda. CNN reported yesterday that too might be imminent..
According
to the source, fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar -- high on
the U.S. military's most-wanted list -- was not present, but his
representatives were keen to stress the reclusive cleric is no longer
allied to al Qaeda.
Details of the Taliban leader's split with al Qaeda have never been
made public before, but the new claims confirm what another source with
an intimate knowledge of the militia and Mullah Omar has told CNN in
the past.
The conflict in Afghanistan appears to be changing form rapidly and may indicate some new pragmatism on the U.S. government's part.
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