It's the Achilles' Heel of counter-insurgency warfare, i.e. the quagmire that is modern-era Afghanistan. To win, all the insurgents need do is remain a viable military and political force when the counter-insurgents finally give up and leave. With the relentless bombings, ambushes and attacks, the Taliban are flexing muscle, showing that they definitely remain a viable force. And
leaving Afghanistan is on Donald Trump's mind. That's why
Di-Di-Mau Donnie is pushing to get the Taliban to the bargaining table.
President Donald Trump's envoy to Afghanistan is reaching out to many top Taliban figures as he tries to launch peace negotiations to end the war before Trump can simply pull the plugand order U.S. troops home, say foreign diplomats.
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has moved at a rapid pace and ventured beyond the official Taliban office in Qatar to meet other members of the insurgency, two foreign diplomats and three former U.S. officials told NBC News.
His outreach included a meeting in the United Arab Emirates with a militant claiming to be an associate of Mullah Yaqub, son of late Taliban leader Mullah Omar and now one of two deputies to the current Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, two foreign diplomats said.
Khalilzad is "testing all channels," said one Western diplomat, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
The problem is when the insurgents sense their enemy is on the verge of splitting, abandoning the field, what possible incentive do the insurgents have to throw in the towel? Like the North Vietnamese they may make nice until the Americans are gone and then finish off their hapless, corrupt and weakened adversaries.
.. Thanksgiving was a wonderful opportunity for the great dealmaker Donald to sort out the Afghan 'problem'.. You know.. like how he got Putin, North Korea, China, the Saudis, Turkey, Canada eh, Mexico.. sorted out, the guy's a raving wonder at diplomacy. Hell, look how he trounced the invading infidels from Honduras ! Oh say can you see ! How he defeated all those 'grabbers' Stephen Miller warned him about & how they steal toddlers from lazy parents too busy doing muchos shots of tequila with salt and lemon por favor
ReplyDeleteBut he aint going anywhere near a 'combat zone' even if it aint a 'combat zone' - the bone spurs dontcha know, or it might rain, or mebbe he wants a few golf weekends free from Robert Mueller.. or the thin shreds of mainstream media still going after his monstrous duplicity amid the unending whiff of money laundering and related obstruction
Its must the greatest and most freakish electoral failure & witch hunt in American history. On a military scale of idiocy its General Custer on steroids plus Benedict Arnold, My Lai and Havana Harbour plus Pearl Harbour.. and hold his beer, there comes Yemen and Ukraine. That hoary soothsaying that everything and anyone he touches turns to shite.. ? Bet on it ..
ReplyDeleteHe's a one man cluster f#@k to be sure, Sal. That's inevitable in someone who rises to power with a complete absence of responsibility. Everytime something he's touched "turns to shite" it's always someone else's fault, no matter how glaringly implausible.