The National Post is running a series of commentaries on the idea, gaining traction in some circles, of negotiating with the Taliban and getting international troops out of the country (just before the Taliban tear up any peace deals and conquer the country all over again, presumably). Here is a roundup of these excellent op-eds:
Matt Gurney: Beware a 21st-century Vietnam
Those eager to find a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan must recall that invading, occupying and rebuilding a foreign country after a major terrorist attack reflects the middle ground of retaliatory options. If a diplomatic debacle in the pursuit of peace at any cost allows Afghanistan to go down in history as a failure, a war best not fought, the consequences to future generations might be worse the next time a rogue nation effectively declares war against the West, as the Taliban/al-Qaeda criminal consortium did in 2001.
Terry Glavin: Surrender by any other nameWe should listen to the 200 women’s organizations that met in Kabul on Jan. 25. They pleaded loudly and unequivocally: No peace talks with the Taliban, no money for misogynist fanatics. Similarly, an alliance of secular and democratic parties from the Pashtun heartland met in Peshawar a month earlier, and fairly begged NATO not to abandon Afghanistan and not to parlay with the Taliban.
One major problem we face is not in Afghanistan but here. Many Western leaders and governments do not fully understand the nature of this new era in warfare or that they are indeed in a war. Some seem to feel that if they simply stop fighting, announce a date of departure or invite their adversary to negotiations, the war will be over and the terrorist threat emanating from an Afghan safe haven will evaporate.
George Jonas: What's to talk about?The Taliban's ideas about beards and burkas are non-negotiable. That's what they're all about. Our objection to the Taliban reopening terrorist nurseries should be equally non-negotiable. Should we agree to jihadists doing barbers and burkas if they promise not to do bombs? But that's nebulous. Once we're gone, the beard worshippers and their macho mullahs don't need our permission and we can't hold them to their promises.
