Negotiating with the Taliban

whell · #1 06-09-2014, 08:17 AM

No, I'm not drawing a direct line between the release of Bergdahl and the events this weekend in Pakistan. However, I think its work reminding ourselves exactly who we negotiated with, and have now by extension recognized as an international entity. 23 dead, and the Taliban have claimed responsibility.

http://www.hometownlife.com/usatoday/article/10220535

BlueStreak · #2 06-09-2014, 08:32 AM

Almost as many as our lax gun laws are responsible for at Virginia Tech alone. Dang, that is bad.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-...ry-fast-facts/

Love,
Dave

MikeG22 · #3 06-09-2014, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Almost as many as our lax gun laws are responsible for at Virginia Tech alone. Dang, that is bad.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-...ry-fast-facts/

Love,
Dave

And these two things are related how?

BlueStreak · #4 06-09-2014, 08:52 AM

The same way every incident involving American deaths abroad are related to Benghazi. Only from my view point.

Dave

icenine · #5 06-09-2014, 09:09 AM

I am pretty sure we negotiated with the North Vietnamese too during that war.

finnbow · #6 06-09-2014, 09:19 AM

Ending a non-decisive war such as this one always involves negotiating with the enemy and you unfortunately don't have the luxury of picking your enemy. From the Taliban's perspective, we are just as bad as we think they are with the number of innocents killed in drone attacks. FWIW, any negotiating we are doing there pales in comparison with the Iran-Contra affair. Truth be told, the Taliban has never launched a terrorist attack on American soil (though the did indeed provide a safe (for a while) harbor for OBL and his boys).

Dondilion · #7 06-09-2014, 09:28 AM

A good read by Peter R. Neumann in Foreign Affairs - NEGOTIATING WITH TERRORISTS.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...ith-terrorists

whell · #8 06-09-2014, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finnbow

FWIW, any negotiating we are doing there pales in comparison with the Iran-Contra affair.

BS. This is completely different. Iran is a nation. The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement that we have now legitimized.

whell · #9 06-09-2014, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icenine

I am pretty sure we negotiated with the North Vietnamese too during that war.

North Vietnam is was a nation that we were at war with...sort of No comparison.

finnbow · #10 06-09-2014, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whell

BS. This is completely different. Iran is a nation. The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement that we have now legitimized.

Iran is the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism and the Contras were not a nation. And yes, the Taliban were the leaders of a nation when we went to war with them. In fact, that was the reason we went to war with them (their nation, Afghanistan, was a safe haven for OBL).