(Karzai appears willing to share power with Mullah Omar-yikes!)

Posted October 8, 2008

Much has been made of the rumored peace talks between Afghanistan and
the Taliban, and while both the Taliban and the Afghan government have
made rather public denials that any such talks are ongoing, the United
States has been totally silent on the report. That is, until today.

Today, General David Petraeus confirmed that Afghan President Hamid
Karzai has in fact asked Saudi Arabia to arrange peace talks between his
government and the Taliban. He also referenced “some local activities”
to that end.

And while the general said he didn’t want to “get into the middle of
domestic politics,” he appeared to endorse the idea, saying that he
thought the US should talk with its enemies. In the case of Afghanistan
he said “the key is making sure that all of that is done in complete
coordination with complete support of the Afghan government and with
President Karzai.”

President Karzai seems to be in favor of reconciliation as well, having
last week made a public call to Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to
the country and participate in upcoming presidential elections. Karzai
promised to be personally responsible for Omar’s safety. The Taliban
rejected the call, saying Karzai was a “puppet” of the US and not in a
position to negotiate.

So far the only sign that the Taliban is at all open to reconciliation
is a statement by Mullah Omar late last month which offered US and NATO
forces a “reasonable opportunity” to withdraw safely from the country.
There has been no apparent progress on the offer.
-antiwar.com