Obama hints at talks with Taliban
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AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 09, 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON - The United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published yesterday, hinting at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.
Highlighting the success of the U.S. strategy of bringing some former Sunni Iraqi insurgents to the negotiating table and away from al-Qaeda, Obama told The New York Times that "there may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region." The strategy in Iraq had been developed by Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. forces in the country.
"If you talk to Gen. Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda in Iraq," Obama said in the interview published in the online edition of the Times. But he warned that Afghanistan was not Iraq, and that reconciliation efforts could face difficulties.
"The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, so figuring all that out is going to be a much more of a challenge," he said.
But Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government had long supported dialogue with those members of the Taliban, who are not connected with the "terrorists" waging an increasingly insurgency in Afghanistan.
"It is very good news that the American president, his excellency Obama, has backed talks with those Taliban that he termed as moderate," Karzai said in Kabul.
During his presidential campaign last year, Obama told Time magazine that opportunities to negotiate with some Taliban elements "should be explored." Asked by the Times if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he has called the "central front in the war on terror," Obama simply replied: "No."
"You've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban are bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," he said. "The government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people."
Reviewing policy
Shortly after taking office in January, Obama launched a review of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that is set to be delivered before he heads to Europe on March 31 for a round of international meetings.
In his first major decision as commander-in-chief, he ordered the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, saying they were needed to stabilize a deteriorating security situation. "We've got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that extremists that would do us harm don't have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate," Obama said.
"At the heart of a new Afghanistan policy is going to be a smarter Pakistan policy. As long as you've got safe havens in these border regions that the Pakistani government can't control or reach, in effective ways, we're going to continue to see vulnerability on the Afghan side of the border," the U.S. president added.
"If you talk to Gen. Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda in Iraq," Obama said in the interview published in the online edition of the Times. But he warned that Afghanistan was not Iraq, and that reconciliation efforts could face difficulties.
"The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, so figuring all that out is going to be a much more of a challenge," he said.
But Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government had long supported dialogue with those members of the Taliban, who are not connected with the "terrorists" waging an increasingly insurgency in Afghanistan.
"It is very good news that the American president, his excellency Obama, has backed talks with those Taliban that he termed as moderate," Karzai said in Kabul.
During his presidential campaign last year, Obama told Time magazine that opportunities to negotiate with some Taliban elements "should be explored." Asked by the Times if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he has called the "central front in the war on terror," Obama simply replied: "No."
"You've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban are bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," he said. "The government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people."
Reviewing policy
Shortly after taking office in January, Obama launched a review of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that is set to be delivered before he heads to Europe on March 31 for a round of international meetings.
In his first major decision as commander-in-chief, he ordered the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, saying they were needed to stabilize a deteriorating security situation. "We've got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that extremists that would do us harm don't have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate," Obama said.
"At the heart of a new Afghanistan policy is going to be a smarter Pakistan policy. As long as you've got safe havens in these border regions that the Pakistani government can't control or reach, in effective ways, we're going to continue to see vulnerability on the Afghan side of the border," the U.S. president added.