US ready for direct talks with Afghan Taliban

From al-Jazeera


The United States is ready to join direct negotiations with the Taliban in an effort to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan, a senior US commander said.

Amid growing speculation about possible peace talks, General John Nicholson's comments on Monday follow increased diplomatic efforts to seek negotiations following unprecedented scenes of unarmed Taliban fighters mingling with Afghan security forces on the streets of Kabul and other cities during last month's surprise ceasefire.


Nicholson, who leads the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said the US recognised it had a key role to play.


"Our secretary of state, Mr [Mike] Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces," he said.

COMMENT:-

TU Curmudgeon said:

From al-Jazeera

US ready for direct talks with Afghan Taliban
​

The United States is ready to join direct negotiations with the Taliban in an effort to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan, a senior US commander said.

Amid growing speculation about possible peace talks, General John Nicholson's comments on Monday follow increased diplomatic efforts to seek negotiations following unprecedented scenes of unarmed Taliban fighters mingling with Afghan security forces on the streets of Kabul and other cities during last month's surprise ceasefire.


Nicholson, who leads the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said the US recognised it had a key role to play.


"Our secretary of state, Mr [Mike] Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces," he said.

COMMENT:-

In another report [U.S. general says remarks on Afghan peace talks 'mischaracterized'], General Nicholson said that he DID NOT SAY "Our secretary of state, Mr [Mike] Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces," and that what he DID SAY was “Our Secretary of State, Mr Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces,”.

Any reasonably stable genius can see that the second is something totally different from the first and doesn't mean anything like "“Our Secretary of State, Mr Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces,”.
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Glad he cleared that up. At first, it sounded like they were going to talk to the Taliban.

Grand Mal said:

Glad he cleared that up. At first, it sounded like they were going to talk to the Taliban.

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When he used the words "talk to the Taliban" he didn't mean "TALK to the Taliban" he meant "talk TO the Taliban" but what the Secretary of State meant was "talk to THE Taliban".

As you can see, those three have absolutely nothing in common with each other.

You people dont even know what you are commenting on...do you? Thats a common ailment of people that dont bother to read before they post snarky mindless **** comments. You REALLY should try actually READING the articles before you comment on them.

No worries, Trump will have a one on one meeting with their leader, probably in Teheran and sort it all out. What cold we loose and the Taliban might even like him.

And then Donald Trump just said, that neither General Nicholson or Mr. Pompeo knows what the hell they are talking about and that he knows more than any general or Secretary of State.

Donald Trump now says, that "We, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces”. LOL!

prometeus said:

No worries, Trump will have a one on one meeting with their leader, probably in Teheran and sort it all out. What cold we loose and the Taliban might even like him.

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Getting along with the Taliban is a good thing.

What a surprise. Sunni Islamic fundamentalist Taliban insurgents, who control and always have a large geographic part of Afghanistan, mingling with 90% Sunni Afghan security forces in a country that is over 99% Islamic, during a ceasefire. A country that has maintained an insurgent force control over at least some of its own geography after invasions by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British Empire (3 times), Russia, and NATO forces (largely the US) to name a few. And, no less, a democratic country so forced upon by the US just like we did in Iraq (look how well that went). Of course, the Taliban just might, under such a democracy, get representation in government, whether or not “we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces”. D’ya think?

bluesmoke said:

Getting along with the Taliban is a good thing.

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Of course it is, there are good people among them too. They are like the evangelicals, just of a different flavor.

VanceMack said:

You people dont even know what you are commenting on...do you? Thats a common ailment of people that dont bother to read before they post snarky mindless **** comments. You REALLY should try actually READING the articles before you comment on them.

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Nah, rather give my kneejerk reaction to a headline:

You can only make peace with your enemies.

prometeus said:

Of course it is, there are good people among them too. They are like the evangelicals, just of a different flavor.

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All good, solid conservatives.