US to hold direct peace talks with Taliban.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000
that's all fine and dandy as we are there, but now that we are leaving what will they do with all that bio fuel? smoke it?? or sell it ? I'm thinking most likely sell it in its raw form, for that is the silk road you know and not just because of the silk and rugs, speaking of rugs did you know under the Taliban rule, more hectors went to the poppy's that any time before.

reply to post by bekod


Oh I agree with your point here. It's what I call a lost opportunity. Funny enough, the term paper I wrote on this last semester scored one of the highest grades I got for a paper all year. I think the instructors were a bit surprised by this side of things as well as many normal folk who aren't even aware that Opium has this secondary purpose. What ought to be it's primary purpose, if it had all been handled better.

You're right on outcomes though because pilot programs and experimental scale projects are about as far as it's gone. Price per gallon actually being paid for fuel into a Humvee is still enough to bring an accountant to his knees and no real hope sits there now for locals outside the couple big cities to see even that much after we're gone. Indeed.. Lost opportunities. We shouldn't be in these places to start with, but so much *GOOD* could be accomplished while we're there anyway.....if that were ever among even the top 5 concerns of those running the show.

1 Trillion in minerals found in Afghan.

inhabit.com


treehugger.com

Pentagon 'Discovers' Huge Lithium Deposit in Afganistan

Naturals resources only expenditure is cultivation. Once depleted of without the capability of regeneration in the amount needed due to supply and demand, companies. corporations, GOVTS, simply find other sources of.

War is all a disguise. You can not promote peace through war. War is about prosperity for the winner regardless of justification meaning there will always be a separation due to war with there being a loser not matter what it is fought over, or you think it is.

And that is nothing new, war makes money on all fronts, that's the bottom dotted line. The political mumbo jumbo keeps those who think they know what is really happening , busy with something to talk about.

Originally posted by dollukka
They shouldn´t negotiate with terrorist.. as Quran advices believers that its ok to lie to infidels. 'Holy Lying' known as taqiyya.

do not worry AlQaeda and Taliban does read Koran upside down !
I doubt Taliban believes in any taqiyya ! I always think that I should hide my beliefs (taqiyya) unless Taliban would behead me just because of my beliefs !!!

reply to post by sk0rpi0n

Afghanistan has a tribal society. as I know US wants their strategic presence in the middle east. Taliban does not recognize the government of Afghanistan. negotiating with USA without the government of Afghanistan will weaken the official government more.
as we know that US has an alliance with radicals nowadays. so US should show being more friendly towards radical groups like Taliban. since the negotiations are in Qatar. one can not ignore the relations between such negotiations and what is going on in other parts of middle east, like Syria.
what is the role of nations in such negotiations !? has anyone asked the will of people of Syria and Afghanistan.
well they can not decide for the people. so the results are unstable.

reply to post by FirstCasualty

Originally posted by FirstCasualty
I am confused if Al Qaeda and the taliban are not the same thing.

The Taliban were the ruling party in Afghanistan before 2001. They had Osama (supposedly the head of Al Qaeda) living there as some sort of "guest of the state". When 9/11 happened, they said they would only hand him over if proof was provided that he was responsible. The US didn't want to get involved in such a game, so rather, they invaded, and got rid of Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, and deposed the Taliban, so that they're not in much smaller pockets of resistance around Afghanistan and the Pakistan border, and also have spread (or maybe it is better to say only their "name" has spread) to mainland Pakistan.

The Taliban are not the same as Al Qaeda. Neither are very pleasant groups, to say the least, but they're not the same.

It isn't possible to have a civilized grown up conversation with a bunch of radical arrogant religious zealot men who go around shooting little girls in the head simply because those little girls want to get an education.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Well now silly, of course we can. They just need to lay down on a long, straight board while our side has a few buckets of water handy.

ooo... did I say that? err.... I meant.. No.. wait.. uhh...

reply to post by FlyersFan

It isn't possible to have a civilized grown up conversation with a bunch of radical arrogant religious zealot men who go around shooting little girls in the head simply because those little girls want to get an education.

The guy in the video sounded pretty "civilized and grown up"... he was talking about larger matters such as the future peace and stability of Afghanistan... not spouting his views about girls education. He seems to have his priorities in place... you seem to missing the point.

Either way, what we have here is a superpower and its allies opting to negotiate with those you call radical arrogant religious zealot. All of a sudden, the Taliban are being seen as part of the peace talks.

Its like an arrogant bully going to a rough neighborhood looking to start a fight... and afters a long fight he decides to sort matters about by "talking" about it.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
It isn't possible to have a civilized grown up conversation with a bunch of radical arrogant religious zealot men who go around shooting little girls in the head simply because those little girls want to get an education.

edit on 6/20/2013 by FlyersFan because: (no reason given)

what about the little girls killed by Obama's drones at weddings?
oh wait, thats pakistan
a US ally
oooops..haha...my bad
silly me

next quaestion please


edit to add
I wonder if the same taliban ( haha special US forces ) that shot Pat Tillman maybe shot this little girl mentioned above....cause we don't know

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

Well now silly, of course we can. They just need to lay down on a long, straight board while our side has a few buckets of water handy.

ooo... did I say that? err.... I meant.. No.. wait.. uhh...

you should try it first
just so you know from what you recommend you know..an accurate review?
might change your mind about dishing it

reply to post by Danbones


Oh I'd rather just take one out and shoot them in the head. I really ...REALLY hate the Taliban. Passionately. Words don't do it justice, Honest and truly. However.....that's not "nice" to kill enemy fighters who would cross a bed of fire to kill me. Naww... So, that sounds like the next best thing.

I do recall watching them using the Sports Stadium the UN built for them to execute women for such horrible crimes as learning to read and educate others ...or some crime of morality as defined by the Taliban member who happened to be offended. Maybe they showed some ankle. (gasp) Those videos of seeing their brains blown out to the entertainment of spectators are still on the net and easy enough to find. It was worse seeing it while it was still happening daily and knowing there was no end to it. Then we get to the mutilation by cutting noses off of women's faces...

Oh... yeah... I hate them so badly, I'd take pleasure in water boarding them. True. Honest. Pleasure. Short of a group that held power half a century ago, there is no other group on Earth I actually feel so strongly about. No if's ands or but's about this one. Not even a little bit. (and I only mentioned their nicer transgressions...they did much worse and were openly proud of it)

Obviously the US is looking for a few good men for Syria ...

reply to post by babloyi

The US didn't want to get involved in such a game, so rather, they invaded, and got rid of Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, and deposed the Taliban, so that they're not in much smaller pockets of resistance around Afghanistan and the Pakistan border, and also have spread (or maybe it is better to say only their "name" has spread) to mainland Pakistan.

US did want to involve in such a game. Osama was their own slave. but they want to keep their military bases in Afghanistan. so they should negotiate with Taliban. US's attack to Afghanistan did ruin the popular resistance against Taliban and Taliban is spreading.

and got rid of Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, and deposed the Taliban

US strategy:AlQaeda is bad in Afghanistan but it is good in Iraq or Syria !

reply to post by maes2

but they want to keep their military bases in Afghanistan. so they should negotiate with Taliban.

But why would they need to speak to the enemy when they could simply transfer the bases to the Karzai government and its 350,000 strong fledgling army?

I guess the US knows that its inevitable that the Taliban would fight to take back their place as government... and so figured, it would be best to find a diplomatic solution and leave the place on good terms with them. Karzai now might end up having to share power with the Taliban. Worst case scenario, the Taliban would want the full share of the pie.

If Afghan history serves as a reference point, we know that the government Russia left behind lasted a short while before collapsing.

Well the underground leverage is that if there isn't peace Obama will turn around and start unplugging a bunch of drug and weapons traffickers in the states. Unpleasant to hear, probably. But the US has been putting up with their running around behind the scenes on US soil already for years. So, personally, the direct peace talking is strange actually.

Another point to note is that the Taliban are extremely confident about themselves. The Taliban official in the video points out in another interview (shot in a flashy al-Jazeera studio) that despite hundreds of thousands of US / NATO and Afghan troops, the Taliban are now stronger than 10 years ago.

One might wonder why the Taliban are now willing to negotiate when they already believe they are winning. The answer is simple... these peace talks would elevate the Taliban from a rag-tag militia to a legitimate voice with regard to a post-US occupation government. In other words, a BIG political victory for the Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack that killed four American troops and the Afghan government announced it was suspending negotiations with the US on an extended troop agreement today, casting a double shadow over peace talks between the US and the Taliban scheduled to begin tomorrow.

creepingsharia.wordpress.com...

Um, I guess the peace talks are maybe "not so much" now. My prayers with the families of the 4 Americans soldiers killed.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n

I think the comparison of Soviet Union and USA is not that adequate. USA had a role in supporting Taliban even against Soviet Union and after the collapse of Soviet. USA has many tools to cooperate with Taliban. Taliban is the friend of Saudies. and Saudies are the friend of USA.
maybe USA wanted to replace Taliban with a more westernized government like Karzai. but they could not omit Taliban from Afghanistan, now they have to solve the paradox of Taliban and Karzai.
such double standards may lead to collapse of USA as well ! and of course it will open the eyes of Afghan people that USA is not their friend and they themselves should change their fate !!

People don't buy the truth these days.

nice thread.