U.S. Moves Toward Peace Talks With the Taliban?

"My friend's friend is my friend" is a neologism that isn't coming too soon, but at last, between the Taliban and the U.S. They have what is euphemistically called a "complicated" relationship these days, more extended and cooperative than is commonly known, too. And a stunning announcement by a senior American official this week opens a new chapter that completely changes the ground rules for the war in Afghanistan in ways that are both predictably optimistic and unpredictably dangerous.

For at least the past six months, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been pushing the U.S., U.K., U.N. and NATO to open peace talks with longtime "enemies" in his country, like the Taliban and other militant groups. He, like the peace professionals worldwide who support him, wants to make close friends of his bitter enemies as soon as possible so that his severely suffering constituents can begin the urgent and daunting task of reconciliation and redevelopment.

Until this recent announcement, the U.S. led by cowboy Presidents and their NATO posse have been the only major players in the Afghan war not to agree with Karzai, instead continuing to pursue war plans that do not match conditions on the ground. Remember, the U.S. helped establish the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1980s to counter the failed Soviet invasion and occupation that is repeating itself under American auspices, probably ultimately motivated by the vast mineral deposits of which both superpowers were and are still very aware.

The Taliban's extremist Islamic radicalization and anti-Americanism thereafter was due in large part to the U.S. abandonment of the education, infrastructure and welfare that were then promised, which are now called "state-building." Trying to do this without the Taliban and other militant groups is like making an omelet without any eggs. That's why the announcement that the U.S. is open to peace talks with the Taliban is so important, in a way unexpected and in another only due.

"There is a change of mindset in DC," a senior official in Washington told the U.K.'s The Guardian on condition of anonymity. "There is no military solution. That means you have to find something else. There was something missing," and that's peace talks with the Taliban. Amazingly, his/her first words are verbatim from those used by U.N. Counter-Terrorism Chief Richard Barrett in my Change.org interview with him a few months ago, when even the thought of peace talks with the Taliban still smacked of treason. Coming from the mouth of a senior U.S. official, this change in mindset and strategy is nothing short of stupendous.

The announcement comes in the wake of the "Peace Jirgas" or Councils that President Karzai has been holding in his country, and in the context of the biggest international gathering in its capital for 40 years, with representatives from 60 countries including Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general. The conference's final statement was short on details, but did affirm as-if unconditional “support for the president of Afghanistan’s objective,” according to the New York Times, which also reported that the key provision in the statement was more flexible financial aid options for foreign countries.

“Our vision is to be the peaceful meeting place of civilizations,” President Karzai in an address. “Our location in the center of the new Silk Road makes us a convergence point of regional and global economic interests.”

As he is proving incredibly capable of doing, this grand vision for Afghanistan begins by aligning the complicated interests of those involved, turning them from enemies to friends, from foes to partners, and from poles apart in war to collaborators in peace.

Photo credit: isafmedia