Posted on Aug 12, 2015
Would you negotiate with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan?
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In recent years there have been attempts to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan with the Taliban. However, all sides seem unwilling to stay at the table for long and the process has come in fits and starts. The US has stipulated that 3 things must happen: The Taliban lay down their arms, accept the Afghan constitution, and sever any and all ties with Al Qaeda.
See here for more info: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2015-06-16/time-negotiate-afghanistan?cid=nlc-twofa-20150806&sp_mid=49266889&sp_rid=amVscGhpY2szNTA0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2
See here for more info: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2015-06-16/time-negotiate-afghanistan?cid=nlc-twofa-20150806&sp_mid=49266889&sp_rid=amVscGhpY2szNTA0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
There is no future for Afghanistan that does not involve the Taliban in some way shape or form.
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Negotiations are made from a position of power. Currently the US doesn't have that in Afghanistan. Not because of the military might, but due to lack of support from the Afghan government and the populace as a whole. The US is also lacking in the position of power from elements at home; the "glory" of the war has long faded and the reality of it has set in for the common civilian (hence the lack of American flags in yards compared to the beginning of hostilities), and the popular thing is now take care of me. Americans normally don't have long attention spans, and if we did we wouldn't constantly repeat the dumb sh*t we seem to like doing to ourselves.
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SSG Warren Swan
MSgt Mike Mikulski - We tried that initially and the Russians did before us. Overall, neither worked. You could continue to do that again, and while it would seem cool initially, wear on airframes, personnel, and materiel would slow you down. Then on top of that, the cost would be astronomical and with the bean counters in congress, they would slow you down long before the bombs run out. There has to be a mix of the two (diplomacy and war fighting) and it has to be balanced, so that we show were serious to end it, but full on ready to carrying on bombing you. And again Americans are short sighted and don't really care about it as much as they used to unless you mention ISIS/ISIL in there for flavor. The Taliban (former Muj) waited out the Russians and the Taliban will wait us out. They're already on home turf, not us.
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Other, radical extremist generally cannot be negotiated with in good faith.
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You cannot negotiate with them unless you are prepared to surrender to them. They will not modify their aims except through unconditional defeat.
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To end the war in Afghanistan? Absolutely. But would it? I'm afraid that peace with the Talibs would be be just as bad as war with them. I'm not certain how you can negotiate peace with someone whose doesn't believe kids should fly kites, girls should go to school, or anyone can listen to any music. Is it really peace? If it were my backyard, I'd take war!
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This is difficult for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the Taliban, although more "governmental" than Al-Qaeda, is not a government. Negotiations with them is hard to do, and having terms that the three main sides (US, Alfghanistan, Taliban) agree on is (at least now) nearly impossible.
I would negotiate, but I would also be wary of anything that sounded too good to be true, and also be sure that I didn't concede points that were untenable to my country.
I would negotiate, but I would also be wary of anything that sounded too good to be true, and also be sure that I didn't concede points that were untenable to my country.
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negotiations should be broadcasted in multimedia so the people can see who is not negotiating in good faith.
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I don't think there is away to negotiate with the Taliban. So I would say NO! But realistically there is no Afghanistan without the Taliban. You would be better off beating your head against the wall.
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