Arresting Taliban leaders is a bad thing?? EX UN offical says yes...

[DFab420]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The former top United Nations official in Afghanistan said that recent arrests of high-ranking Taliban figures by Pakistan have severed important secret communications between the Taliban and the West, possibly delaying peace negotiations and making them more difficult.

Kai Eide, the former special representative for the United Nations secretary general, told the BBC in an interview broadcast Friday that, for the past year, the United Nations had been quietly involved in early discussions with Taliban figures in Dubai. He said those talks were upended by the arrests of senior Afghan Taliban figures, including the group’s second in command.

There is a growing consensus among officials from the United Nations and Western European countries that ending the war in Afghanistan will require internationally supported negotiations with the Taliban.

But Mr. Eide, who stepped down earlier this month, said the effect of the arrests “was negative on our possibilities to continue the political process that we saw as so necessary at that particular juncture.”

\rest of the story here
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/world/asia/20afghan.html

Thoughts?


Personally I could give a rat's ass what this guy thinks, and am actually a bit peeved about these "talks with Taliban leaders in Dubai.." I mean honestly we all have seen pictures of Taliban "justice" and rule...TO think they thought they could deal with these MFer's..anyways just curious what the DUniverse thought...

[DFab420]

1. doh!

self-kick!

[malaise]

2. I watched the interview on BBC this morning

Why are you peeved? Who created the Taliban?

[Robb]

3. To think that "moderate" Taliban are worth dealing with

...isn't particularly more foolish than thinking the same thing of most of the former "Northern Alliance" warlords.

But the UN has a real short memory if they were actually trying to make a deal with Baradar in particular.

[DFab420]

5. Says it better than me.. ^

Thank you, I was trying to put it into words but was failing haha.


I have no issue in dealing with the Taliban, as a political entity, even though their laws are considered some of the strictest in the Muslim world.

What gets to me is that these leaders of the military movement, who also deal with Al-Qaeda, are being captured and all of the sudden the UN is like.."But we were talking...we had this under control!!"

Also why is the UN having "secret" meetings in Dubai? I thought they were supposed to have our backs in Afghanistan? Why when NATO and the US are making concentrated efforts of aggression, is the UN talking to the enemy leaders at the same time?

Well quite frankly they shouldn't be talking to these aholes..


But that's just me... I might not be the best thought out argument but the asshole in the next cubicle won't stop chattering to me and I can't think straight...

[leftynyc]

4. Fuck the taliban

There are no moderates. They hate women and inflicted slave conditions on them when they were in power. I want them all dead.

[demosincebirth]

8. Many lefties lament people and groups ( righteously so) that historically mistreat women,

but seem to give quarter to the Taliban? Talk to them and give 'em rights? so they can continue as usual. I don't think we should.

[Arctic Dave]

6. I don't understand your anger. All wars and occupations have back channel talks.

It is, and always have been, part of warfare.

[grantcart]

7. when Pakistan arrests them they continue to negotiate with them