Losing the War in Afghanistan

Losing a war can take many forms - formal surrender, freezing territorial positions to create a stalemate, agreeing to negotiate while the other party takes de facto control on the ground. Today the United States announced that it will hold peace talks with the Taliban aimed at finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, as the international coalition formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police. The US announcement came after the Taliban pledged not to use Afghanistan as a base to threaten other countries, although the Americans said they must also denounce al-Qaida. President Barack Obama cautioned that the process won't be easy, describing the opening of a Taliban political office in the Gulf nation of Qatar as an "important first step toward reconciliation" between the Islamic militants and the government of Afghanistan, and predicted there will be bumps along the way. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, said the only way to end the war was through a political solution and reconciliation, and so he said, "I frankly would be supportive of any positive movement in terms of reconciliation, particularly an Afghan-led and an Afghan-owned process that would bring reconciliation between the Afghan people and the Taliban in the context of the Afghan constitution." Dunford added that he was no longer responsible for the security of the country now that Afghan forces had taken the lead. The transition to Afghan-led security means US and other foreign combat troops will not be directly taking the fight to the insurgency, but will advise and back up as needed with air support and medical evacuations. The coalition force numbers about 100,000 troops from 48 countries, including 66,000 Americans. By the end of the year, the NATO force will be halved. At the end of 2014, all combat troops will have left and will replaced, if approved by the Afghan government, by a much smaller force that will only train and advise. The Obama administration officials said the US and Taliban representatives will hold bilateral meetings, reflecting the Taliban's refusal to recognize or negotiate with Karzai's government or his High Peace Council. Karzai's High Peace Council is expected to follow up with its own talks with the Taliban a few days later. But in making their announcement in Doha, the Taliban did not specifically mention talks with Karzai or his representatives. The talks will be with the Americans only in Doha under the patronage of Qatar," he said. "We represent the people of Afghanistan. We don't represent the Karzai government." The Taliban office is in one of the diplomatic areas in Doha. Its sign reads: "The Political Bureau of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Doha." Despite Karzai's stated hope that the process will move almost immediately to Afghanistan, US officials do not expect that to be possible in the near future. The Taliban have refused to negotiate with the Afghan government's High Peace Council, set up by Karzai three years ago, because they considered them to be US "puppets." ~~~~~ So dear readers, the United States, like the British and Russians before them, has lost a ground war in Afghanistan. The goal now is to salvage what they can from the resurgent Taliban, which will surely become the "governing" force in Adghanistan when the talks are over and the West goes home once again. What will become of Afghan women and children we can only guess, hoping against hope, and without a shred of tangible evidence, that the Taliban have become civilized in the years since the last time they had a stint at governing the country.