ARE THESE GUYS IDIOTS, OR WHAT?

In yet another example of an administration grasping at straws, the U.S. is now willing to negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan. It’s being reported that the U.S. “supports reconciliation talks with Taliban fighters who have no ties to al-Qaida and accept Afghanistan's constitution.” According to the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, William Wood:

... our only place where we have concern would be the members of the Taliban with close connection to al-Qaida, the reason being that al-Qaida is an international threat, it is a global threat and we don't believe that there should be separate peaces with al-Qaida.

What? The only place “where we have concern” is if they have “close” connections with al-Qaida. This is the Taliban we’re talking about. This is like agreeing to negotiate with the moderate racists in the KKK.

And what about the 2,974 dead from 9/11? We’re OK with this now, as long as certain Taliban elements are willing to work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai? But this is the real gem. The idea that there should be no “separate peaces with al-Qaida.” What a joke. The Bush administration has already compromised their negotiating position, and any negotiated deals.

Since they’ve forgotten, we already tried this negotiating tactic with tribal groups – they were called American Indians. They ended up hating us because one colony or, after the Revolution, the country remained hostile because certain tribes did not adhere to what was agreed to by other tribal leaders. To square this diplomatic circle, we were always disappointed that they wouldn’t keep up their end of the bargain. Put another way, hostilities continued despite treaties.

No wonder the Bush administration doesn’t know how to fight wars. Not only are they incompetent ideologues, they flunked history too.

OK, I’ve answered my opening question … these guys are idiots.



- Mark