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Political Legitimacy for the Taliban?

Suddenly declaring the Taliban "politically legitimate" in preparation for ISAF withdrawal makes mockery of the thousands of coalition lives lost there. But as opposed to being a cop-out, is this a natural process; and more importantly, should it have taken place some time ago?

More...
 
Suddenly declaring the Taliban "politically legitimate" in preparation for ISAF withdrawal makes mockery of the thousands of coalition lives lost there. But as opposed to being a cop-out, is this a natural process; and more importantly, should it have taken place some time ago?

More...

I would suggest that it is what our German friends call realpolitik. With ISAF going I don't think that the present Afghan goverment can avoid talking to the Taliban, the question IMO is whether the Taliban will consider it necessary to talk back.
 
How else do you establish a meaningful peace without the opposition involved., Surely it is a fundamental element of conflict resolution?
 
Possibly it's because politics is 'the art of compromise', and compromise with those who have been your 'enemy' is absolute realpolitik.

You may not WANT to talk to him, but you going to have to if you want a new system to actually work. Vide: IRA, etc etc etc throughout history!
 
Because commentators on a website for the British Army are in the best possible position to decide political legitimacy in Afghanistan...

The best argument for recognising the Taliban as having political legitimacy is that, in the eyes of many Afghans they are politically legitimate: the expression of the views and will of many Afghans.

Our deluded myopia, which sees the Taliban as some sort of malevolent adjunct of AQ and insists that they have no right to be involved in the rule of Afghanistan absolutely stands in the way of some form of settlement.
 
The best argument for recognising the Taliban as having political legitimacy is that, in the eyes of many Afghans they are politically legitimate: the expression of the views and will of many Afghans.

Our deluded myopia, which sees the Taliban as some sort of malevolent adjunct of AQ and insists that they have no right to be involved in the rule of Afghanistan absolutely stands in the way of some form of settlement.

Unfortunately, this is spot on. Unless the coalition can magically squash every one of them tomorrow, any solution is going to have to be inclusive of all parties - anything else would be a mockery of democracy.
 
Unfortunately, this is spot on. Unless the coalition can magically squash every one of them tomorrow, any solution is going to have to be inclusive of all parties - anything else would be a mockery of democracy.

Agreed, we never learn from history, IRA, EOKA, etc etc, if at the outset there is no room for dialogue then it is a lost cause, i do not believe that the lives lost will have been in vain, Afghanistan will remain a "tribal" society when all of the westerners have gone home,
that said the chances of a "form" of democratic government with the taliban included will have improved, perhaps not as we would wish it to be , but an improvement hopefully on what was in place .
 
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