— Musings —12.16.2014 08:20 AM
Also, resist the temptation to talk about “root causes” today
…and, on this day of pure evil, here is a partial list of those who said we should negotiate with the Taliban, and the one entity who said we shouldn’t. Feel free to add to the lists in comments.
Negotiate with the Taliban:
- The New Democratic Party
- Barack Obama
- Thomas Mulcair
- Canadian Council of Churches
- Adam Radwanski, Globe
- Tom Walkom, Star
- Too many Canadians
Don’t negotiate with the Taliban:
Cmon Warren serious?
Is anyone negotiating with the taliban? I highly doubt it. But there should be.
Over a trillion dollars wasted….
This is the same retoric used with the IRA.
How was that resolved??
Peace
That’s Warren’s point, I believe.
Or maybe not. Hard to tell.
Wow..you really didn’t read Warren’s post did you?
Different Taliban. But in any case, negotiations are better than quagmires.
Really?
Has anyone ever gone to Neville Chamberlain High School?
No?
’nuff said.
Bill
Bill, we are not fighting a Country my friend. Its Ideology.
The west will never win over there.
You think another Trillion will do the trick?
That part of the world needs to figure it out.
The west can assist in many ways but boots on the ground obviously is not the answer.
cheers
Freddie:
We weren’t fighting a country in ’38 either, we were fighting an ideology — Nazism. It was unfortunate that ideology took temporary root in a country — and a powerful one at that — but the main fight was against Nazism. Still is, on many fronts in many lands, including ours.
Remember, in ’38, when we were appeasing and negotiating, the German army was all set to launch a coup. It fell apart when Chamberlain sold out Czechoslovakia at Munich.
Some times you just have to fight, or at least be willing to fight, and fight to a total, unconditional surrender. That’s been our biggest failing in the countries where the Taliban and their ilk have taken root.
Best regards,
Bill
Exactly, when it takes hold of a country then deal with force if need be.
until then we are limited in what can be meaninful success.
cheers
So why aren’t you over there fighting tough guy?
In the past, in trying to figure out what Taliban ideology is, I have come across, in a couple of places, that they do not discuss their beliefs with no believers. That they have their faith, and its rules, and that’s it. I don’t know if this rule applies to talking about other topics.
Reuters reports that a Taliban spokesperson as saying that the military has been going after children and women in Taliban areas.
I looked at some Pakistan newspapers, but I found references only to Pakistan military; none to our military or drone attacks in the tribal regions.
When I heard this I though back to Beslan.
Everyone should be negotiated with.
That said, I wouldn’t shed a tear if the Taleban were wiped off the face off the planet whilst we were negotiating with these vermin.
A agree with Bill. How do you negotiate with a bunch of rats? I know the Taliban are humans and one shouldn’t call humans rats but I have.
I agree WK. When are we going to learn, you cannot negotiate with these people – they don’t want to negotiate. Why is that so hard for folks to understand? They will only accept abject surrender to their Caliphate and have said it many times – why won’t people believe them?
As for Obama, a lot of this rests on his shoulders and his pronouncements regarding terrorism in his first term. Might have won him a Nobel Peace Prize – but still?
why won’t people believe them?
A fascinating question. One thing the left and right share is the belief we have the power to make them in our own image. The right believes we can somehow deliver human rights and democracy by force and the left thinks that if only we can “dialogue” with them and redress “legitimate grievances”, they will turn their swords into ploughshares and join the global quest for social justice. In both cases, the hubris is palpable and ultimately very dangerous.
Has anyone ever gone to Neville Chamberlain High School?
That is sooooo wonderful.
Good grief!
Yes another trillion might do the trick….sigh
Time to let the middle east and surrounding areas play a more prominant role.
Well the Saudi’s have been pulling a lot of strings for decades, and look where it’s got us.
Hmmmm! Do I detect a blue-ish tinge colouring Mr. K’s political countenance, of late?
You sure don’t.
Lots of Liberals support action against these terrorists.
Hell, some even think we aren’t hitting them hard enough.
Hey look! Asshole comment of the day. (His not yours WK)
Where does Trudeau stand on negotiating with the Taliban? He was asked this question by a CBC reporter last year (he actually thought it was a Sun reporter) and waffled with his answer, but given his “root causes” sentiments, I don’t think there is much doubt he would be in favour of negotiating.
In any event, his handlers would do well to shield him from the media for the next several days, as the gaffe potential here is huge.
It doesn’t seem all of those who favored negotiating are doing a very good job.
Being revolted by child-killers is just soooo right wing.
Warren,
Catch-22…you can’t beat them on the ground and negotiations are basically pointless.
We cannot defeat the Taliban militarily (a decade of futility should prove that) and negotiations seem to be pointless so what is the solution?
Alot of people much smarter and more experienced in international affairs than anybody commenting on this website have been wrestling with that question for more than a decade and they still have not got it right.
In the end the West will probably follow the same actions as the Soviets. Get the hell out of Dodge and let the chips fall where they may, which will probably mean the Taliban goes back to being the dominant political force in the “country” as they represent the dominant tribe.
This may be offensive to many, but it needs saying. The damned truth is that most Canadians simply don’t care about Afghanistan and thought our mission there was highly dubious at best. The Tories correctly understood the high level of public disapproval and ordered the troops home. That is the current government’s most definitive contribution to that conflict… Ending Canadian bloodshed. In the post cold war world, we call this “exit strategy” but the truth of it is *surrender*. Yes, its terrible, horrific what is going on. We all support the troops and the unbelievable, incomprehensible sacrifices that were made and continue to be endured. However, we do a disservice to history by going along with the myth that Canadians, by and large, ever were truly engaged with these problems.
Two serious questions……….who do you negotiate with face to face and WHAT do you negotiate?