Taliban leader willing to talk peace

[Muddy]

Wars may "solve problems" in the current terms but they often create new and more difficult problems down the line.

well a good ass whoopin sure settled and any further world domination ideas by Germany and Japan !

[Guest TrueMetis]

Wars may "solve problems" in the current terms but they often create new and more difficult problems down the line.

Or if done right create great allies. Unless you can think of a solution to WW2 that would have worked out better.

Edited April 20, 2010 by TrueMetis

[Bonam]

Or if done right create great allies. Unless you can think of a solution to WW2 that would have worked out better.

The only "better" solution to WW2 would have been for some of the powers who later became the "allies" to have intervened against Hitler and Germany earlier than they did. They waited too long, appeased too much, and as a result threw the world into a horrific war rather than simply forcing Germany to back down and reconsider before it ever begun.

Failing that, I'd say the outcome of WW2 was as good as could be hoped for. Germany and Japan were brought back to the side of productive civilization rather than murder and conquest, conquered nations were liberated, and the two great victorious powers maintained a balance that prevented another world war from ever again happening.

[Guest TrueMetis]

The only "better" solution to WW2 would have been for some of the powers who later became the "allies" to have intervened against Hitler and Germany earlier than they did. They waited too long, appeased too much, and as a result threw the world into a horrific war rather than simply forcing Germany to back down and reconsider before it ever begun.

Good point. Preemptive strike would have nipped that in the bud.

Edited April 20, 2010 by TrueMetis

[Moonlight Graham]

If this war is going to end favourably on our part, there's eventually going to have to be a deal with the Taliban. As others have said, there's no military-only solution in Afghanistan.

Reading the article in OP, it's somewhat positive in that the Taliban says it doesn't want to lead the gov, but not so positive when they say one of their conditions is the return of Sharia law. Not exactly what NATO wants.

But i'm hoping this will eventually result in the U.S. admin and the Taliban siting down and having some dialogue.

[wyly]

Sure we can talk ,but keep our powder dry. NATO has done a much better job than the Russians did in their dust up in Afganistan. NATO has been trying to build infrastructure but the Taliban insists on tearing it down or preventing it from being built. But I certainly think we should talk to the Taliban when they produce a white flag and smashed AK47`s to show good will.

Did someone say they should be allowed to run education? Ugh! Does anyone remember the acid in little girls faces for just attending school?

NATO isn't fighting all of the Afghan tribes like the Soviets, NATO really only has to deal with the Pashtun's and no super power is supplying the Taliban with Stinger missiles and cash...if NATO had to face what the Soviets did our troops would have come home years ago with our butts severely kicked....

[wyly]

I think that's quite debatable. Nazism was solved with a war. French dominance of Europe was solved with a war. Japanese Imperialism was solved with a war.

selective start points...each one of those countries were involved in many wars over many decades and the case of France centuries...wars only trigger more wars...

[wyly]

well a good ass whoopin sure settled and any further world domination ideas by Germany and Japan !

what about a good ass whoopin for the GB and the USA? what about their ideas for world domination?...history is written by the victors from their POV...

[eyeball]

Moreover...the very same critics of US policy in Afghanistan (i.e. lack of support after the Soviets left), now want to do exactly the same thing.

What, leave Afghans under the thumbs of our henchmen, like Ahmed Wali Karzai or Asadullah Khalid, and the NDS etc? That's your side's idea not our's. The Russians must be laughing their asses off right about now.

Meet the new boss...

[eyeball]

I think that's quite debatable. Nazism was solved with a war. French dominance of Europe was solved with a war. Japanese Imperialism was solved with a war.

Whack-a-mole. Go Figure.

I wonder what will follow the American Empire, China's?

[bush_cheney2004]

I wonder what will follow the American Empire, China's?

Chinese empires come and go....the Americans are still in the first inning.

[ToadBrother]

Wars may "solve problems" in the current terms but they often create new and more difficult problems down the line.

So can peace agreements... the Munich Pact comes to mind.

[Sir Bandelot]

If you want to keep comparing to WWII one can also say that the Versailles treaty and forcing Germany to make reparation payments in effect created the need for an Adolph Hitler. In other words, when people are forced to endure continued injustice.

[M.Dancer]

If you want to keep comparing to WWII one can also say that the Versailles treaty and forcing Germany to make reparation payments in effect created the need for an Adolph Hitler. In other words, when people are forced to endure continued injustice.

Making Germany pay for the war they started was injustice?

I would say that the crash of 29 had far more to do with the rise of Hitler than reparations...to wit....Germany paid again for the war thye started in 39...where is the new Hitler?

[Sir Bandelot]

Making Germany pay for the war they started was injustice?

I would say that the crash of 29 had far more to do with the rise of Hitler than reparations...to wit....Germany paid again for the war thye started in 39...where is the new Hitler?

Who is Germany. A serbian shot the prince of Austro-Hungary. Thereafter they attacked Serbia. then Germany made a move on France, and then the whole house of cards came down. Th Russians jumped in at the same time, all so called great powers seeking to expand or protect their colonies. There is little doubt that the whole of Europe was a powder keg ready to blow off as soon as anyone made the first move. To say germany started it is a simplification.

[eyeball]

...where is the new Hitler?

I don't know but Afghanistan is probably the last place I'd look.

I'd keep an eye on technologically advanced countries with a penchant for militarism and projecting their force around the globe.

[bloodyminded]

I don't know but Afghanistan is probably the last place I'd look.

I'd keep an eye on technologically advanced countries with a penchant for militarism and projecting their force around the globe.

Exactly. Also, look to the countries considered among the heights of civilization--like Germany was.

[Topaz]

After reading the following article, I felt that may be some of you would like to read also. It tells of how corrupt the Karazi government is and how perhaps our government isn't helping matters and were is all those millions of dollars really going? http://www.skyreporter.com/blog/page/3/20100111_01/

[M.Dancer]

To say germany started it is a simplification.

That may be true....but you cannot overlook Bismark's legacy and the encouragement they gave the Austrian Hungarian Empire nor that the first army to cross a frontier was Germany.

[ToadBrother]

If you want to keep comparing to WWII one can also say that the Versailles treaty and forcing Germany to make reparation payments in effect created the need for an Adolph Hitler. In other words, when people are forced to endure continued injustice.

WWI is a completely different affair. But if you're going to keep going back in time to the point when the Carolingian Empire splintered and Germany and France were born, well, that's a lot of ground, a lot of wars, a lot of treaties, and it can pretty complicated. But Germany wasn't doing too bad by the end of the 1920s. The US, in particular, had managed to get it pretty reasonable repayment terms and the economy was improving. The Allies had embarked on very substantial disarmament quotas, and in particular France saw her armed forces considerably stripped down in an effort to make Germany feel more secure, and to attempt to heal the millennium-old rift between the two countries.

Then came the Depression, and while everyone got hit really hard, Germany was still sufficiently precarious that it fell all the harder. In the end wars, peace, diplomacy, and every other aspect of international relations is fundamentally economic. Which is why saying "Wars never solve anything" is particularly ludicrous. Of course they do. They usually don't solve it to everyone's satisfaction, and often times bungling the peace truces and treaties that come afterwards can lead to later instability, other times it doesn't. I mean, there hasn't been a large-scale general war in Europe in 65 years (there was the Balkans conflict, but that was regional). WWII solved a singular problem very well; it ended the desire or capacity of Germany and France to go to the battlefield to solve their disputes and rivalries.

In the Pacific Arena it ended the expansionist aims of the Japanese Empire, and transformed a belligerent, expansionist power into an economic power house and one of the West's most important allies.

Edited April 20, 2010 by ToadBrother

[ToadBrother]

That may be true....but you cannot overlook Bismark's legacy and the encouragement they gave the Austrian Hungarian Empire nor that the first army to cross a frontier was Germany.

But neither can you overlook the Pan-Slavism exported by the Czarist regime to weaken Austria-Hungary and to ultimately bring the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in Europe (and probably chunks of the rest of the Ottoman Empire) under the thumb of the Russian Empire. Nor can you overlook the British and French Empires' desire to stem the growth of the German Empire in Africa.

[Oleg Bach]

Why talk peace with the Taliban? They may be willing, seeing as how they are being crushed, but we shouldn't be.

The whole thing is totally stupid. We have our own Taliban sitting on Bay Street...a clean modern version of tribal violence along with a touch of domination sickness, motivates bored losers with to much money. I don't even really know what Taliban is - all I do know is that ours are just as murderous and theirs...Ours terrorise and destroy incrimentally through social programs and hording of opportunity and money - It would be nice if we could take our top dogs and send them to fight Taliban top dogs - armed with only a small knife-- wonder who the real men would be then?

[Rue]

Agreed. And proper economic development will require a cease fire.

Afghanistan's main goods are agricultural. There are regional markets for their goods, but they require safe passage along well maintained roads.

Get real. Afghanistan is a large rock and some desert. The only crop it has ever grown is poppies. Its main good has always been poppies and heroin.

The real reason the West went in is to find away to put a pipeline through it-end of story.

There is no agricultural base to develop nor has it ever been anything but a nomad land. Unless heroin is legalized it has no agricultural basis or natural resources.

Let's get real shall we?

[dizzy]

Get real. Afghanistan is a large rock and some desert. The only crop it has ever grown is poppies. Its main good has always been poppies and heroin.

The real reason the West went in is to find away to put a pipeline through it-end of story.

There is no agricultural base to develop nor has it ever been anything but a nomad land. Unless heroin is legalized it has no agricultural basis or natural resources.

Let's get real shall we?

I'm not a very sophisticated investor, but I know enough to not invest my life savings into pomegranate futures in afghanistan. Still, at least a tenth of the countryside looks like this:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/12/08/f-ormiston-afghanistan-arghandab.html

I've seen it with my own eyes. A few times.

There is a good agricultural opportunity for afghanistan, if they can get their goods to markets in places like Iran and India. And FTR, under the right conditions, I also support the legalized trade of poppies for medicinal purposes.