From NRO:
The news is stunning. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will announce that, “in a bid to end the war in Afghanistan,” he will begin negotiations with the Taliban. The quote from the “senior source” merely adds an exclamation point to it all.
The change of tack will be seen as the latest attempt by the prime minister to distance himself from the foreign policy of Tony Blair and his ally George Bush.
In a landmark statement in the Commons he will say that the Cabinet has agreed a three pronged strategy for Afghanistan which will [include] security guaranteed by NATO and the Afghan national army followed by economic and political development in the country.
The third prong of the plan is likely to be most controversial — to engage Taliban leaders in constructive dialogue.
A senior source said last night: “We need to ask who are we fighting? Do we need to fight them — can we be talking to them?”Do we need to fight them? Do we need to fight them??? I am at a loss for words. Stunned.
…
Expect al-Qaeda’s propaganda machine, relentless in engaging the Information War, to bat this out of the park in short order. Recall that bin Laden’s latest message to Europe was a reminder of Russia’s futile struggle in Afghanistan. This, for him and for furthering his message in the region, serves to help bin Laden bolster the parallel.
One prays that Mark Steyn was not more right — and sooner — than we care to admit.
Yet, on the other hand, I prefer to be alone than anywhere near the new British policy.
Is it so inconceivable to end a war by winning it?
General Petraeus, if you have some free time in the relative near future, sir . . .
Here’s how a negotiation with terrorist regimes go:
Good guys (for those of you on the left, that would be the US and its allies): So what do you want?
Taliban: Convert or die.
Good guys: We don’t like either option. What else?
Taliban: Die or convert.
Good guys: Sounds an awful lot like the first set of options. Still not liking it. What else you got?
Taliban: Cease living or become Muslim.
Good guys: What if we let you blow up a skyscraper once a decade and kill about 3,000 of our countrymen?
Taliban: That’s a hoot, but it’s not enough.
Good guys: We can throw in a few Hollywood starlets, minus the burqas, so you can beat and/or stone them?
Taliban: My loins tingle with excitement! Keep talking…
Good guys: How about a queer, gift-wrapped in time for Ramadan. The squeal like a pig when whacked with a rock…or so we’ve heard.
Taliban: Since Iran has no gays to give us, this is most definitely an enticing option! Throw in some free couscous and an Afghan goat for each of our mullahs, and we’ll think about it.
Good guys: Awesome! See? We can strike a deal, if we just put our minds to it.
Taliban: Yes. Trust us (*snicker*snicker*)!
Why didn’t we try this a long time ago, right? For those of you on the left, the prior sentence was sarcasm.
Brown’s probably hoping the choices are, “Cake or Death.” He’s praying they’re not out of cake.
Comment by ManicNole — December 12, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Would it be out of the question to possibly see a televised beheading of the British Prime Minister?
I wonder how that would go over….
Comment by Henry — December 12, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
This strategy of talking to them worked well before. Didnt Jimmy the peanut brained farmer accomplish his goal with aser-who-the-hell-ever in 79?
Comment by WMD_Maker — December 12, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
[...] This after the Afghan flag is now flying over a captured Taliban stronghold as NATO and Afghan forces just laid waste to them and sent them running to the hills. From the blogs: Crush Liberalism [...]
Pingback by Newsletter 1.4 - 12/12/2007 « The Zero Report — December 12, 2007 @ 8:58 pm