Word: talibanize
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Others might dispute that analysis. In 2001, the Taliban leadership was fractured between moderates, who sought international engagement, and conservatives, influenced by al-Qaeda, who preferred continued isolation. But assuming that at least some Taliban leaders want to reach out to the West, what would a conversation with them be about? "Everyone says we have to talk to the Taliban," says Hekmat Karzai, director of the Kabul-based Center for Conflict and Peace Studies. "But when you do, what the hell are you going to say?" It's a good question. The first thing the Taliban would want...
...Qaeda Connection Other key Taliban demands will be less easy to meet. In any negotiations, for example, the Taliban would want to see a timeline for the withdrawal of international forces. The problem there, Hekmat Karzai says, is that "Afghans know that if the international soldiers leave we won't have a solid security institution, so foreign withdrawal has to be concomitant with increased Afghan security forces." But training of the Afghan army and police force is going more slowly than planned, and U.S. and European instructors are in short supply. It will be several years before Afghan troops...
Even if Saudi Arabia or others stepped into the financial breach, not all Afghans are convinced that the Taliban leadership can be easily peeled away from al-Qaeda. A senior Afghan security official points to a recent attack on the U.N. compound in Kabul that was planned and financed by al-Qaeda but executed by the 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...
That rejection extends to Western demands for Afghan women to have basic rights. Listen to Abdul Wahid, 26, a Taliban member jailed for his involvement in a car-bomb blast that claimed several lives. Wahid says compromise on the establishment of Islamic law is out of the question - and to him, that means women would not be able to work. "They could leave the house, but only if they were dressed appropriately. They could go to school, but they would never be able to work in offices - only in women's hospitals or as teachers at girls' schools...
Talking to the Taliban, on that view, will work only if it is accompanied by an extensive nation-building program, leading to a clean government that protects its people and gives them real opportunity. Pity that is precisely the long-term commitment to Afghanistan the U.S. is trying to avoid...