Just as Afghan and NATO forces fought to liberate the southern Afghan district of Musa Qala from nearly a year of brutal Taliban rule, Britain’s Prime Minister signaled he is willing to negotiate with the Taliban. This is London reports Gordon Brown will address the Commons that “negotiation is the only way to bring peace to the war torn country.” Gordon Brown will announce today that he intends to talk to the Taliban in a bid to end the war in Afghanistan. In a major shift in UK foreign policy the Prime Minister is expected to tell the Commons today that negotiation is the only way to bring peace to the war torn country… The change of tack will be seen as the latest attempt by the prime minister to distance himself from the foreign policy of Tony Blair and his ally George Bush. In a landmark statement in the Commons he will say that the Cabinet has agreed a three pronged strategy for Afghanistan which will security guaranteed by NATO and the Afghan national army followed by economic and political development in the country. The third prong of the plan is likely to be most controversial – to engage Taliban leaders in constructive dialogue. A senior source said last night: “We need to ask who are we fighting? Do we need to fight them – can we be talking to them?” This is London goes on to report the British don’t view the Taliban as “united force,” but a “disparate group of tribesmen infiltrated by foreign fighters.” The same source then said:
The British view of Musa Qala is completely distorted from the reality of what really occurred in the district over the past year. In October of 2006, the British withdrew from their small outpost in the district center after negotiating with who they believed to be “tribal elders” not aligned with the Taliban. Within days, the Taliban ran up the al rayah, the black banner of the terror group, up the flag post of the district center. By February 2007, the Taliban took dejuer military control of the district — it had de facto control from October 2006 onward. The Taliban opened recruiting centers, taxed residents, mounted attacks on neighboring districts, hanged and beheaded numerous “spies” in public, and implemented sharia law. The British view that the radical elements of the Taliban are controlled by “only a few hundred” leaders considered “‘Tier 1’ … religious extremists and hard-core idealists, fully committed to a state governed by their own interpretation of Sharia law” is completely misguided. The Taliban has integrated with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. The Taliban and al Qaeda cross train in camps, and have launched coordinated campaigns in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Members of the Taliban sit in on al Qaeda’s Shura Majlis. As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda wing, releases Taliban media products.
