On Friday, US President Obama announced the result of the American review of the mission in Afghanistan. In addition to sending the already announced 17,00 troops to Afghanistan, the US plans on sending 4,000 military to accelerate and expand the training of Afghan military and police forces. That is right in line with what Canada has been doing in addition to our combat role. Although Canada is unable to send more troops.

Another aspect of Obama’s new focus is a willingness to reach out to more moderate Taliban sympathizers. Mostly those who have taken up the cause more out of cohersion or economic need. This is something Afghan President Karzai has previously indicated a willingness to do, the difference is that Karzai has even opened the possibility of the highest level of the Taliban being invited to the negotiating table. Wonder if Karzai has ever tried negotiating with an active rattlesnake?

Many, if not most of the, Taliban command structure has been placed on the UN’s “Consolidated List” which makes them subject to things like travel bans and seizure of assets. That seems to be a pretty fair response to those who not only harboured Al Qaeda prior to and after 9/11 but have been part of the command structure responsible for Afghan and coalition deaths, including 116 Canadians to date.

Word out of Kabul today is that Karzai wants those 142 names removed from the UN list if they are not directly linked to Al Qaeda. Hello!! Karzai, their link is their past behaviour and behaviour since 2002 when they were removed from power. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are as much a unified enemy of Afghanistan as ever, maybe more so since the lines between the two have been so completely blurred.

In my view, if any Taliban wants to be seen as a friend of Afghanistan, he needs to step forward and earn his name being removed from that list. They earned their place on the list, they can learn their removal.

Karzai needs to get a grip on reality and show some gonads for his country. Course, he is facing an election, guess he wants the support of the ‘friendly neighbourhood Taliban’ to get re-elected.

On another note, interesting piece over at The McGill Daily of an excerpt from an interview with Brigadier-General Denis Thompson who has been in charge in Kanadahar for the last nine months.  He says there are four myths the Canadian people have been fed about the mission:

  1. That security is in a downward spiral
  2. The Taliban exists as a shadow government in most of the province
  3. Air strikes are indiscriminate
  4. That everyone is returning from Afghanistan with PTSD

Have a look at his remarks. Most interesting.

Meanwhile over at Crooks & Liars, Susie reports that the Pakistan Taliban has forged an alliance with the Afghanistan Taliban (like there was ever a difference) to prepare an offensive against the influx of the American troops this summer. That should be good news for the coalition forces in Afghanistan and the government of Pakistan. The two need to be planning a coordinated response to any focused offensive in Afghanistan by taking a pincer action.

Coalition troops engage the Taliban in Afghanistan while the Pakisani troops push them out of Pakistan. Oh, that would first require the Pakistan government to have the gonads to root out their own forces who are providing aid and comfort to the Taliban in order to be actually able to fight the Taliban instead of helping the. Way too much to hope for.

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