Word: afghanistan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...those important people want a conversation? In recent months, Mullah Omar, the one-eyed veteran Taliban leader, seems to have distanced himself from al-Qaeda. In a September statement, Omar assured foreign nations that Afghanistan would never again be used as a launching ground for international terrorism, as it was before 9/11. "We assure all countries," he said, "that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as a responsible force, will not extend its hand to cause jeopardy to others." Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network and author of a recent book on the war, is convinced that...
...policy has focused on low-level Taliban fighters. But there have been moves to engage the insurgency's leaders too. In a sign of mounting frustration with Karzai's government, Obama recently requested an analysis of Afghanistan's provinces to determine which of them had leaders with whom the U.S. could work directly. The request apparently did not exclude Taliban commanders, a move that has met with approval among Afghans. "There are many capable people in the Taliban ... [who] can be an asset [to the government] if they agree to lay down their arms," says Haleem Fidayee, governor of Wardak...
...short supply. It will be several years before Afghan troops can defend the country on their own. Before it withdraws its forces, the U.S. will want to be sure that all al-Qaeda bases have been destroyed and that the group will not be able to use Afghanistan as a launching pad for further terrorist attacks. In theory, that is doable. Intelligence officials estimate that there are fewer than 100 al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, but for the Taliban to completely renounce their al-Qaeda sponsors, says Giustozzi, they will have to be provided with alternative sources of income...
...Taliban. The war has brought their causes closer together, he says. "Now the real Taliban is no different from the real al-Qaeda. They are not a bunch of hungry guys fighting because al-Qaeda is paying them. They will never accept our vision of a stable, democratic Afghanistan...
...talks less as a considered proposal for a long-term Afghan solution and more as a way for the U.S. and its allies to get out as soon as they can. "If we are going to initiate dialogue, it should not be so the West can immediately leave Afghanistan, saying, 'Look, now they have come together. They have developed a solution Afghans are happy with, so we can back off.' If you did that, this country would collapse back into chaos. We have to do this because we want to make sure there is a lasting peace...