A new briefing paper from the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) quotes several Taliban members close to Mullah Omar, including an unnamed former minister and a former lead negotiator for the faction as believing that a negotiated settlement is still attainable in the ongoing war.
They say that the Taliban are fully “prepared to work with the US” on a deal including long-term security arrangements and potentially the continuation of the US occupation in some form, but only under certain conditions.
The paper lays out in considerable detail the possible conditions for a settlement, saying that they consider any deal that requires them to recognize the Karzai government as a “non-starter.”
The long and short of it is that the Taliban are fine with breaking all links with international militant factions and making considerable reforms, but want to return to a position of preeminence in Afghan governance. US officials have not commented on the possibility of such a deal.
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What an irony it would be if the U.S. got into bed with the Taliban!
I suppose that if you can't beat your enemies, it's better to join them.
That would give the U.S. two rogue nations it could rely upon: Israel and Afghanistan with Pakistan bringing up the rear!
Considering that the US created the Taliban, it wouldn't be much of an irony at all.
Lead author is a Michael Semple, who earlier quoted anonymous alleged Talibs who said they did not believe that the Talibs will take Kabul after the end of the occupation. Seeing that the acceptability of his pronouncements depend on how far one can trust the word of tenure establishment spokesmen, its hard to take this seriously. Withdrawal was always a Talib endpoint, even in early days.
Why would the Taliban want to negotiate when it's clear that they're winning? This sounds like more Pentagon propaganda.
The US will insist, of course, that the Taliban deny due process to any prisoners handed over.
Naw you stupid Taliban !!… now is not the time to sell out!