BARACK OBAMA has emphasised his administration’s efforts to get talks with the Taliban off the ground ahead of a decision to draw down numbers of US troops in Afghanistan.
The US president was unusually explicit about his view that in order for the 10-year war to end, negotiations with the Islamist militants must take place. He also declared his readiness to authorise a strike to kill Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. “There needs to be a political settlement,” he said. “Ultimately, it means talking to the Taliban.”
The US president has already promised to begin drawing down the 30,000-strong US troop surge in Afghanistan next month – although his administration has yet to agree on the size of the troop reductions and the speed at which they will be carried out.
One senior European diplomat added that more significant troop reductions could take place next year if negotiations with the Taliban leaders made progress. He confirmed that behind-the-scenes contacts – and “talks about talks” – had also intensified recently.
US officials have expressed their hope that Osama bin Laden’s death and fears for their own safety could prompt Taliban leaders to enter talks.
Many Pakistani and US commentators regard the death of bin Laden as opening an opportunity to advance talks with the Afghan Taliban, and to drive forward a three-way negotiation between Kabul, Islamabad and Washington. However, many commentators note the Taliban is not a unified group and the US itself acknowledges the lead in any talks would be taken by the government of Hamid Karzai.
Negotiating with the Taliban is an established objective of the US administration – a goal it describes as “reconciliation”. In his comments Mr Obama outlined the three conditions the US says should apply to the Taliban – that it should break ties with al-Qaeda, renounce violence and abide by the Afghan constitution.
But the US desire for talks appeared to have already outstripped such conditions last year, when Nato flew a supposed Taliban leader to Kabul for negotiations with Mr Karzai – only to discover the man was an imposter.
Some US officials also express a fear that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which has historic ties to the Taliban, has sought to obstruct negotiations.
But in comments that will not please Islamabad, Mr Obama said he would be willing to stage another raid in Pakistan such as the mission that killed bin Laden.
Asked whether he would do the same again if the US discovered the whereabouts of Mr Omar or another target, he said: “I’ve always been clear to the Pakistanis . . . We cannot allow someone who is actively planning to kill our people or our allies’ people [to bring their plans to fruition] without us taking some action.”
– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)