Evidently they think they can press on to final victory. "Taliban rejects peace talks," from Reuters, October 3 (thanks to JE):
A SENIOR Taliban commander today rejected reconciliation with what he called the "puppet" Afghan Government, the latest in a series of pronouncements from both sides on potential peace talks.While violence has increased to its worst level since 2001, neither side has managed to break the strategic stalemate and gained a clear advantage, leading many to call for talks to end the conflict and bring the Taliban into peaceful politics.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said this week he had asked the king of Saudi Arabia to mediate in talks with the insurgents and called on Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to his homeland and to make peace.
But Mr Karzai's plea appeared to have fallen on deaf ears and was rejected by a senior Taliban leader.
"We reject an offer for negotiation by the Afghan's puppet and slave President Hamid Karzai," Mullah Brother said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
He said Mr Karzai had no right to negotiate. "He only says and does what he is told by America."...
The question might be; who is operating from a position of strength? Or does it really matter in the case of this rabid ideology that has made it a way of life to fight battles either with the Americans,coalition troops, or simply among the various Muslim factions or tribes.
If they don't have provocations they will create them on their own. The term peace seems irrelevant to their way of thinking. Even to the last man standing.
Joe Biden, innocent on-deck, October 2, 2008:
"Now, John and Gov. Palin now say they're all for -- they have a passion, I think the phrase was, a passion for diplomacy and that we have to bring our friends and allies along.
Our friends and allies have been saying, Gwen, "Sit down. Talk. Talk. Talk." Our friends and allies have been saying that, five secretaries of state, three of them Republicans.
And John McCain has said he would go along with an agreement, but he wouldn't sit down. Now, how do you do that when you don't have your administration sit down and talk with the adversary?
And look what President Bush did. After five years, he finally sent a high-ranking diplomat to meet with the highest-ranking diplomats in Iran, in Europe, to try to work out an arrangement.
Our allies are on that same page. And if we don't go the extra mile on diplomacy, what makes you think the allies are going to sit with us?"
Exactly what leverage other than force or deprivation do you think you have with these people?
Yes, our allies are in that same page. The one that doesn't work. Karzai knew that going in.
At least in the Middle Ages you could marry your daughter into a family and have peace between two nations. This enemy would just slaughter your daughter.
Good luck with that, you naive idiot.
Afghanistan is a tar baby, we are trying to civilize a bunch of islamofascist scum who resist that to the last cells in their body. That country was always a disaster and our "allies" there are almost as bad as the Taliban.