Not to turn this into a blog solely about why peace talks with the Taliban will fail, but here are some more things worth perusing. Dexter Filkins, who wrote the New York Times story to which I linked yesterday, elaborated on his story on the PBS Newshour earlier this week:
Filkins says of the talks:
They’re pretty much getting to know each other.
I think the other thing that’s happening here is, the Afghan government and the Americans in NATO are trying to figure out who these people are, and they’re trying to figure out, can they really deliver? Do they really have the leverage that they can make a deal? Are they who they say they are? That kind of thing.
So, it’s pretty early. I mean, I — you know, don’t — don’t hold your breath.
And Diane Rehm, on her show last Friday, asked Gordon Lubold of Politico a question that I wish more people would ask, especially given the Taliban’s assertion that Karzai’s claims about peace talks are “baseless propaganda”:
REHM: But could this, Gordon Lubold, be propaganda on the part of the U.S. to pave the way for a definite exit strategy?
LUBOLD: Sure.
