Taliban Deny Reports Of Negotiations With Afghan Government

Taliban fighters (Photo from ABCNews.net)

From The Long War Journal:

Two Taliban leaders have denied recent reports that the leader of the Afghan group is currently in peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi and Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi, a military commander in the southern province in Helmand, denied talks were underway and said reconciliation is not possible as long as foreign troops are in Afghanistan.

"These reports are baseless," Ahmadi said according to Reuters, which picked up the report from the Pakistan-based AIP news agency. "Our position remains unchanged. We will conduct jihad and continue resistance as long as foreign forces are present in Afghanistan."

"If you wait for 3,000 years, our position is that the Taliban will not enter into any kind of talks in the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan," Ahmadi said

Read more ....

My Comment: For the past week we have been hearing numerous stories (actually thousands of news reports and blog posts) on the need to pursue peace talks and discussions with "moderate" Taliban. That since the NATO Alliance with their Afghan allies cannot win this war, their only solution is to now proceed with laying the groundwork to discuss peace terms with certain enemy commanders.

I commented last week that such discussions are fool hardy .... that such talk will only embolden the Taliban and Al Qaeda in their war against us, and that our allies will only be discouraged and fearful of U.S. and Nato resolve.

Today's news reports from key Taliban spokesmen proves my point. As far as they are concern, discussions will only occur when Nato and our allies have left the battlefield, and that the Taliban are in positions of authority and power. Translation .... they are only interested in talking about NATO and Afghan Government surrender terms.

Even with these official comments from leaders of the Taliban, our Government and main stream media narrative has not changed. Is there such a thing as "moderate" Taliban to discuss peace terms. Hmmm .... I am sure there are a quite a few of these groups. But let us not fool ourselves with what is the reality on the ground. The "True and dedicated" Taliban numbers in the thousands .... their support runs in the hundreds of thousands if not millions. They are dedicated to the fight, and are prepared to fight for decades in order to win. If they will falter it is because their foe (which is us) has an even greater resolve .... and more importantly .... the fire power to implement it.

But from what I see in the Afghan war theater today is the complete opposite of what is needed. The fire power and the will in our military and our allies is there, but the political resolve to win is totally lacking in Kabul, in Nato capitals of Europe, and in Washington D.C. They talk about peace and diplomacy, but what I see is defeat and surrender.

During the height of the Iraq conflict, commanders on the ground were always given what was requsted. In Afghanistan, the commander asks for a surge .... the White House only authorizes half of what is requested.

How can we win with that type of mentality?