Talk To The Organ-grinder

By Cernig

President Karzai of Afghanistan has appealed to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in hopes of getting them to broker a peace deal ending the country's six-year conflict with the Taliban. It makes sense. After all, you talk to the organ-grinder, not his monkey.

Karzai, speaking at the presidential palace, said his government is trying to encourage militants to lay down arms. He said he has in the past reached out to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar to "come back to your home soil and work for the happiness of the people."

The Taliban has largely rebuffed repeated peace overtures from Afghan officials.

Mullah Omar released his own Eid message with a barrage of accusations against Afghan security forces, calling them thieves, smugglers and criminals not worthy of the public's trust. He also called on militants not to harm civilians during their operations.

He did not indicate any willingness to talk to Karzai's government and called again on tens of thousands of American and NATO troops to leave the country.

A former senior Taliban official told The Associated Press last week that the militants do not consider Karzai a strong leader who can uphold and implement any potential deal if America does not agree with it. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be identified.

U.S. officials have not indicated they are ready for any contacts with high-level Taliban leaders, though U.S. officials do encourage fighters to lay down arms and join the government's reconciliation program.

...Karzai said he would personally protect Taliban and other militant leaders from U.S. and NATO troops if they come back to Afghanistan for talks.

"Don't be afraid of the foreigners. If they try to harm you, I will stand in front of them," Karzai said.

That's a pretty definite statement of Karzai's position. He;d rather end the war for his country's sake than hunt down and kill every last terr'ist. Why does he hate America? Oh yeah...

Maybe ZalKhal will get his turn at being Head Of State after all.

Of course, Pakistan sees too much utility in its proxies to tell them to stand down. The Saudis are saying nothing, as they have for the last six years. And so it goes.

Comments

[Hypatia]

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be identified.

clever fellow

[Bill in Chicago]

Gee, they've been working with the Saudis for the past two years, and it sure hasn't seemed to help much. I wonder why that is:

http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com

At least they're going to the right place.