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| Afghanistan |
| It's time to talk with Taliban: UK army chief |
| 2010-06-28 |
| LONDON: Talks with the Taliban should begin “pretty soon' as part of the exit strategy for international forces in Afghanistan, Britain's army chief said on Sunday, adding that this was his “private view'. “If you look at any counter-insurgency campaign throughout history there's always been a point at which you start to negotiate with each other, probably through proxies in the first instance, and I don't know when that will happen,' General David Richards, chief of the general staff, told BBC radio. Stressing it was “purely a private view', he said, “I think there's no reason why we shouldn't be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon. “But at the same time you have got to continue the work we are doing on both the military, governance and development perspectives to make sure that they (the Taliban) don't think that we are giving up,' he added. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 The last war they actually won by themselves was against Dutch Reformed farmers... ...and the last war the US won by herself was... Panama (more likely the Spanish-American war)? As for the UK, I think you're forgetting the Falklands. Bit of a strange comment to make given the vast majority of conflicts involving the UK and US of late have involved other NATO and UN allies. You shouldn't forget the US dragged her feet on WWII, failing to fight alongside the UK and her commonwealth allies defending western democracy until compelled into it. If the war in Afghanistan is lost the blame will lie proportionately at the feet of the US involvement. Obama's signalling that the US will start pulling out next year is a de facto admission of defeat at least as much as these comments from Richards. Cameron in fact has recently been saying that he would 'prefer UK troops not to be in Afghanistan longer than 5 years'. Compare that to Obama's 'we'll start pulling out in mid 2011'. As for a lack of fighting terrorism in Northern Ireland and too bloody lazy to read their own sad history of the region or study the people: WTF? Patent nonsense. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-06-28 06:19 |
| #3 An excellent read which will provide keen insights into the disconnect between British forces on the ground, their generals, and Whitehall can be found in Mark Urban's new book entitled Task Force Black. Much on General Stanley McChrystal found there as well. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-06-28 04:55 |
| #2 His frame of reference and many others in the UK is based on thier experiences or lack thereof in fighting the terrorism in Northern Ireland. Too bloody lazy to read thier own sad history of the region or study the people, they default to the convenient language of the negociated settlement. The last war they actually won by themselves was against Dutch Reformed farmers and they had to put thousands of families in horrid detention camps to accomplish even that. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-06-28 04:36 |
| #1 How can negotiating with terrorists look, and be held as any thing other than giving up and saying, "Terror wins?" Is he a terrorist himself? |
| Posted by: miscellaneous 2010-06-28 01:19 |