Speaking during his visit to the United States, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that in a recent conversation with Afghan President Ghani had informed him that it was unreasonable to simultaneously expect Pakistan to kill every Taliban they see and try to court the Taliban to revive stalled peace talks.
Sharif’s comments were clearly a reference to repeated calls from the US and Afghan governments to “do more” in wiping out the Taliban militarily as well as their ongoing haranguing of the Pakistani government to do something to get the Taliban to return to the peace talks, which ended back when Afghan officials revealed Taliban leader Mullah Omar was dead.
US officials were critical of Sharif’s comments, insisting that the US “had repeatedly stressed” to Pakistan that it was not a question of “kill or talk” and that the US expects Pakistan to do both at the same time.
Those officials, quoted in the media but unnamed, said that they believe that killing Taliban “means to support the peace talks” and that the official US stance is that the way to counter the Taliban is to keep killing them while talking peace.
Kill and talk.
Isn't that the stereotypical Hollywood Bad Guy®?
The Taliban have never been defeated since 2001, and the Pushtun seem determined to stick with them.
They are backwards and have a history of murder and brutality, but they are there and don't seem to be going away.
I've always contended that bribes and offers of economic integration, coupled with forcing the Taliban leaders to become diplomatic, would possibly bring them around to modernizing and a (more) peaceful reformation.
I think it would require USA dropping out of Afghanistan for such a climate to emerge, however
If the US dropped out of Afghanistan (I'm sure its allies wouldn't linger) it wouldn't matter to the US how bestial and depraved the Taliban were. This would make use of the US's strongest strategic advantage in the Afghan war, it's thousands of miles away from the place. (Still too close I'll agree.) As for the bribes, I'd stop all the money to both Afghanistan and Pakistan. What to spend it on? Why not free beers all around? As for terrorists creeping into the US, I'd sub-contract with the American Nazi Party to handle all visa applications.