If you are a US citizen, please tell your Government that the Afghans are tired of war and want peace
Why Americans do not talk to the Taliban? While violence in the country has reached a shocking level and as a result, scores of Afghans lose their lives on daily basis, peace has again become a hot topic. Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, even claimed that senior Taliban leaders were engaged in secretive ceasefire talks with Afghan officials. However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, rejected the claim as baseless in a statement, accusing the United States of trying to hide its failures in Afghanistan by making such unfounded allegations.
For years, all efforts aimed at bringing a negotiated end to the Afghan conflict have failed. Among other culprits is Taliban’s insistence on direct talks with the United States and the refusal of Washington to do so. Since the peaceful settlement of the Afghan war has come into play, the Taliban have persisted that they are willing to talk but first with Americans and then the Afghan government. The US refuses to engage in direct talks with Taliban under the ploy that Afghan peace process should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. They portray that their direct talks with the Taliban questions the national sovereignty of the Afghan government, whereas Americans have constantly violated Afghan sovereignty since their involvement in Afghanistan. Thus, it is not fair to use that as a pretext to deprive Afghan people of the precious gift -- PEACE.
After the repeated failures of peace talks, it is now time for Americans to negotiate Afghan peace with the Taliban, because they will have to do so at some point one day or another for being one of the main parties to the conflict. Whether Americans want it or not, the Taliban are citizens of Afghanistan, and it is neither practical nor logical to completely eliminate them. If Americans had been able to do so, the phenomenon of Taliban would have not existed now after two decades of war, killings and bombings. So when everything is very clear, America’s refusal to hold direct talks with Taliban realizes the doubts that they have no faith in political solution, and intentionally create conditions that prolong the war, and pave the way for their military presence. At least to rule out the suspicions of US intentions, Americans should engage in direct talk with the Taliban, even if it is once.
>>> Read the original article in Heart of Asia @ http://www.heartofasia.af/index.php/editorial/item/6671-why-americans-do-not-talk-to-the-taliban
For years, all efforts aimed at bringing a negotiated end to the Afghan conflict have failed. Among other culprits is Taliban’s insistence on direct talks with the United States and the refusal of Washington to do so. Since the peaceful settlement of the Afghan war has come into play, the Taliban have persisted that they are willing to talk but first with Americans and then the Afghan government. The US refuses to engage in direct talks with Taliban under the ploy that Afghan peace process should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. They portray that their direct talks with the Taliban questions the national sovereignty of the Afghan government, whereas Americans have constantly violated Afghan sovereignty since their involvement in Afghanistan. Thus, it is not fair to use that as a pretext to deprive Afghan people of the precious gift -- PEACE.
After the repeated failures of peace talks, it is now time for Americans to negotiate Afghan peace with the Taliban, because they will have to do so at some point one day or another for being one of the main parties to the conflict. Whether Americans want it or not, the Taliban are citizens of Afghanistan, and it is neither practical nor logical to completely eliminate them. If Americans had been able to do so, the phenomenon of Taliban would have not existed now after two decades of war, killings and bombings. So when everything is very clear, America’s refusal to hold direct talks with Taliban realizes the doubts that they have no faith in political solution, and intentionally create conditions that prolong the war, and pave the way for their military presence. At least to rule out the suspicions of US intentions, Americans should engage in direct talk with the Taliban, even if it is once.
>>> Read the original article in Heart of Asia @ http://www.heartofasia.af/index.php/editorial/item/6671-why-americans-do-not-talk-to-the-taliban