Apparently the U.S. and the Taliban have begun negotiations in Qatar aimed at an end of the War in Afghanistan. Isn't that just peachy.
From the article at DAWN:
Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with US officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
Citing several former Taliban officials, the newspaper said these measures included a possible prisoner transfer.
The Afghan government is expecting a delegation from the Qatar government to visit Kabul to explain its role in the talks, said High Peace Council secretary Aminundin Muzaffari.
The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group, the report said.
The comments suggested that the Taliban, who have not publicly said they would engage in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, were gearing up for preliminary discussions, the paper said.
I'm interested in the "prisoner transfer." What does that mean? Does the Taliban hold more than one U.S. soldier? What do you suppose the Taliban want in exchange for the one U.S. soldier? One Taliban fighter? Or do you suppose this is going to be like negotiating with the likes of Hamas or Hezbollah where they want 1,000 of their guys exchanged for one of our guys?
Mark my words, any peaceful settlement to the War in Afghanistan will be violated by the Taliban within six months of signing - it will be sooner than that if American troops are withdrawn faster. The Taliban live for one thing - complete and total rule of Afghanistan and anything less than that is unacceptable...so instead of calling these "peace" negotiations, let's just call it a surrender.
Taliban, US negotiators meet in Qatar: report
WASHINGTON: Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with US officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
Citing several former Taliban officials, the newspaper said these measures included a possible prisoner transfer.
The Afghan government is expecting a delegation from the Qatar government to visit Kabul to explain its role in the talks, said High Peace Council secretary Aminundin Muzaffari.
The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group, the report said.
The comments suggested that the Taliban, who have not publicly said they would engage in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, were gearing up for preliminary discussions, the paper said.
US officials would not deny that meetings had taken place, and the discussions seemed to have at least the tacit approval of Pakistan, which has thwarted previous efforts by the Taliban to engage in talks, The Times noted.
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