Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

Taliban leaders are holding Saudi-brokered talks with the Afghan government to end the country's bloody conflict -- and are severing their ties with al Qaeda, sources close to the historic discussions have told CNN.

The militia, which has been intensifying its attacks on the U.S.-led coalition that toppled it from power in 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, has been involved four days of talks hosted by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, says the source.

The talks -- the first of their kind aimed at resolving the lengthy conflict in Afghanistan -- mark a significant move by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan, hosting delegates who have until recently been their enemies.

They also mark a sidestepping of key "war on terror" ally Pakistan, frequently accused of not doing enough to tackle militants sheltering on its territory, which has previously been a conduit for talks between the Saudis and Afghanistan.

(...) Details of the Taliban leader's split with al Qaeda have never been made public before, but the new claims confirm what another source with an intimate knowledge of the militia and Mullah Omar has told CNN in the past.

The current round of talks, said to have been taken two years of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations to come to fruition, is anticipated to be the first step in a long process to secure a negotiated end to the conflict.

(...) A Saudi source familiar with the talks confirmed that they happened and said the Saudis take seriously their role in facilitating discussions between parties to the conflict.

A second round of talks is scheduled to take place in two months, the Saudi source said.

The Afghan government believes the Taliban cannot be defeated militarily, and the Taliban believe that they can't win a war against the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, the Saudi source said.

(...) The talks in Mecca took place between September 24 and 27 and involved 11 Taliban delegates, two Afghan government officials, a representative of former mujahadeen commander and U.S. foe Gulbadin Hekmatyar, and three others.

(...) During the talks, described as an ice breaker, all parties agreed that the only solution to Afghanistan's conflict is through dialogue, not fighting.

Nice to know I was not that far off the grid on that potential solution, eh?

Yes, this means that the Afghanistan war was all for nothing. But this is all too fitting, considering that it was based on lies in order to cover-up what was essentially nothing more than a politically convenient and expedient vengeance operation for 9/11 to begin with.

However, I'll believe all of these talks when they produce peace once and for all.

And our servicemen and women come home at last.

Nevertheless: there is at last some dim light at the end of this dark tunnel ...


(Cross-posted from APOV)

Defence Minister Peter MacKay dismissed the idea that the Taliban is launching a new offensive in Afghanistan, saying Tuesday the mounting death toll and surge in violence are linked to the end of the annual poppy harvest.

MacKay said suicide attacks that have seen more than 40 people killed in recent days and the death Sunday of another Canadian soldier are likely tied to the conclusion of the lucrative trade that funds Taliban activities.

"The so-called spring offensive very often does lead to an uptick in insurgency attacks,'' he said Tuesday after a funding announcement in Halifax.

"This effort by the Taliban coincides with the end of the poppy harvest so there are more young individuals subject to being bought and paid for by the Taliban to involve themselves in the insurgency."

In other words, the Afghan upswing of violence of late is nothing more than a seasonal phenomenon.

Well, la-dee-da.

(Oh, and if such blatant denial of reality sounds somewhat familiar, then you are right: according to President G.W. Bush, this only has been a "tough month", is all ...)

Let's see:

Nothing seasonal here.

But incompetents like Defense Minister McKay just keep on viewing the grim reality through political and ideological rosy spectacles:

MacKay said the grim statistics don't tell the whole story of Afghanistan, which has seen its per capita income double across the country since 2002, while more than 80 per cent of Afghans now have access to basic health care, compared with only nine per cent in 2004.

That's right - but here is my question: any hard data to actually support such grand claims?

Especially in light of the rank corruption of the Afghan government, the still inefficient and embattled police force, and the simple fact that Afghanis were among the poorest of the planet before the launch of the Afghanistan war in 2001?

Hell, living allowances supposedly being dished out by the Afghan government are in fact being put in the pockets of corrupted officials - consequently pushing more destitute and frustrated young men to join the continuing and amplifying, flourishing Taliban insurgency - while one in five Afghan soldier drops out of their fledging, poorly trained and paid army - care to guess what these deserters will become?

And that is not taking into account the recent revelation that the civilian death toll resulting from the fighting between insurgents and security forces has soared by 60% in the first half of this year alone (one recent example of why and how this is happening - h/t).

In the meantime, both U.S. (h/t) and Canadian (h/t) military remain silent of such civilian deaths.

Anyone care to guess what is likely to become of surviving family members, friends and neighbors?

For indeed, Afghans have been facing a grim choice for quite a long time now: who is the bigger nightmare - the Taliban or the N.A.T.O. forces?

But all of this is apparently poppycock, if one would hang onto the words of the shining brand new Canadian "Top Soldier" - Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk - like one hangs onto the Gospels as an article of faith: according to him, there is no sign that the Taliban is regaining its strength and Canadian troops will definitely leave Kandahar in 2011.

Such blatant "toeing the talking point" of the good general's own boss (Defense Minister McKay) flies in the face on not only the facts and numbers mentioned above, but likewise contradicts the truth of the situation to which the Americans, even the incompetent Bush administration, are finally becoming aware of - a few headlines as cases in point:

Taliban flourishing, Pentagon reports (h/t);

Is This the Year of the Taliban?

Taliban attacks up 40 percent in east Afghanistan: US general;

Losing On The Forgotten Front;

NATO's Lost Cause;

Remember the other war?

Gates voices worry over Afghanistan (h/t);

Turmoil puts Afghanistan at epicenter of White House campaign;

US warns Taliban to step up fight in new Afghan areas;

Hunkering Down in Afghanistan;

Get Ready For The Surge 2.0 - This Time In Afghanistan;

Pentagon extends tour of Marines in Afghanistan;

Bush considers sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Yes, yes, yes indeedy - there is progress in Afghanistan, or so we keep on hearing again and again and again and again and again.

And hey - Canada is now helping to build walls (h/t) around university campuses and rebuilding prisons broken into by the Taliban, and may even help protect a brand new oil pipeline over there!

(Which in turn makes me wonder how much money will be wasted to fill the greedy pockets of those corrupted corporations who keep fleecing government monies tagged for Afghan reconstruction - like these others keep doing in Iraq?)

Ah, yes ... Afghanistan has been a big success so far and the Taliban is losing (yet again).

Welcome to Magical Ponies Land - where people and soldiers have died, still die and will continue to die, for nothing more than what in the end has amounted to a needless and ludicrous political exercize on the part of incompetent "deciders" as their response to 9/11.

Or to put it another way: Afghanistan has always been nothing more than a 9/11 vengeance operation, and once the Bush administration had control of the place, they did not have much clue as to what to do - and obviously, they still don't.

But no matter what the cost, apparently, Canada's single most important endeavor will go on even if its disavowed mission in Afghanistan keeps on changing - perhaps helping in the process of defining those oh-so-elusive signposts of success as they go along.

And should all else fail - then the Afghanis will be blamed for it.

As the world turns and seasons come and go, Afghanistan proves there's a whole lot more abject incompetence and sheer stupidity for our "Deciders" to show.


(Cross-posted from APOV)

I have felt much "sympathy" for President Bush when he declared that he wished he was standing alongside soldiers in Afghanistan and/or Iraq; I was especially "misty-eyed" when I heard that he keeps making great sacrifices for the Global War on Terror(TM), such as "feeling for the fallen soldiers' and putting aside golfing.

I have likewise felt much "empathy" for John McCain and Joe Lieberman, who keep beating the drums of war - increased troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as waging war aginst the evil Iranian Regime.

As a Canadian, my chest swelled with patriotic "pride" when Prime Minister Harper announced his vague plans to invest greatly in our military, if only because "if you want to be taken seriously in the world, you need the capacity to act".

And then ...

Then I remembered this:

"Ignorance breeds fear. Fear fosters hate. In turn, hate leads inevitably to violence (...) when will we acknowledge the fact, once and for all, that it is the incompetents among us who consistently promulgate violence as a solution for anything, to everything? (...) we must strive to forget nevermore that rationalizations supporting the use of violence - other than the need for the rightful exercise of self-defense when set upon by a genuinely clear, present and immediate danger - invariably constitute deceitful fabrications meant to conceal, disguise or justify incompetence ... including our very own for embracing such mendacity."

For indeed, we have much to atone for giving into fear following 9/11 - as this video illustrates:

Which, in turn, made me remember this:

"So - what exactly happened on the day after the fateful and tragic morning of 9/11?

We lost and the terrorists won.

Right there and then.

Whatever else has happened in the (seven) years which followed to this day merely constitutes the gradual and methodical enactment of the terms of our surrender.

No more, no less."

We have allowed bona fides incompetents to run our governments, to represent "us".

We have allowed ourselves to be enthralled by the fearmongering, the hatemongering and the cries for blind vengeance bellowed by false patriots, making us forget what true patriotism is and what it means.

Consequently, this is the price exacted from us when we entrust governance to incompetents:

And this is the price the incompetents that we've entrusted have exacted from "them":

All of this also reminded me of one of Ghandi's quotes:

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

Along the way, we have forgotten what true leaders are all about:

"What is power?

We all know the saying: 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. However, how many among us actually realize that this adage is nothing more than an excuse for incompetence in wielding, or exercising, power?

For it is a fact that those individuals who are 'corrupted' by power are inevitably revealed at their core to be selfish, greedy, covetous, paranoid or fearful. Consequently, these use power expediently as a tool for the wasteful satisfaction of their every whim, want and need, or as a weapon to aim recklessly at their outwardly-projected inner demons.

In short: only incompetents abuse power.

Why is this so? Because, their petty minds are blind to the principle that factual power constitutes that which serves not only to better our own personal lives, but to improve those of others as well. We are indeed the keepers of our brothers, our sisters, our families, our relatives and our neighbors: this is a plain and simple verity, which also happens to define the very essence of Humanity.

It is not coincidence that incompetents invariably forget - or deny - such a fundamental truth."

Whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not, this much remains true: all that blood is on our hands.

If only because we have met the enemy, and the enemy is ourselves.

We The People - this is what it has, and always has been, about. In a democracy, it is the electorate who holds all the keys and guard all the doors - provided that the citizens actually live up to their responsibility.

We are the ones who have broken the "contract between citizens and their government" because, in essence, we surrendered to fear, hate and desire for blind vengeance, all the while thinking that somehow our vigilance and implication had become optional with regards to our own governance.

My only remaining hope lies with the possibility that it is not too late, that we may yet veer off the road to perdition upon which we are fast riding on and take another, more enlightened, one.

After all, are our noble precepts of democracy, liberty, human rights and peace nothing but empty, boastful, self-gratifying and hypocritical shams?


(Cross-posted from APOV)