Tillerson: time for Taliban to help rule Afghanistan

[Blue3]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tillerson-says-room-for-taliban-in-afghan-government/ar-AAtWn0I

[Virginiá]

Well, we've come full circle now. Money well spent!

[JA]

Well, we've come full circle now. Money well spent!

[GeorgiaModerate]

This may be the most depressing foreign policy move yet by the Trump administration.

[Nyvin]

16 years in the making all to go back to where we started!   Yay!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

This may be the most depressing foreign policy move yet by the Trump administration.

Well, other things didn't work out...

I hate to say this, but on this one Trump administration might've displayed more realism than Obama's.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

16 years in the making all to go back to where we started!   Yay!

Not sure if there's a comparision. 16 years ago Afghanistan was ruled in 90% by almost universally unrecognized theocratic regime, while this would mean Taliban being a part of the wider political process.

And no, I'm not confident about this.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Well, we've come full circle now. Money well spent!

The mistake in Afghanistan wasn't invading, it was staying as long as we did.  Not invading after 9/11 would've been akin to not declaring war on the Axis powers after Pearl Harbor.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Only Trump could admit we lost in Afghanistan?

Or is this Tillerson trolling Trump (and making a desperately needed realistic but unpopular call)?

How long until Trump does 180 degrees on this?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

16 years in the making all to go back to where we started!   Yay!

Not sure if there's a comparision. 16 years ago Afghanistan was ruled in 90% by almost universally unrecognized theocratic regime, while this would mean Taliban being a part of the wider political process.

And no, I'm not confident about this.

Maybe the GOP wants to start legitimizing theocracies?

[SoLongAtlas]

It's not a loss but just acceptance of reality. They must be brought to the table because they will be running a majority of Afghanistan after we leave. The Taliban did deals with Exxon back in the 90s so there's that, too. US policy of defeating every single last fighter in Afghanistan whilst not creating two more was asinine and the opposite of effective COIN. This last step of bringing the Taliban to the table was always the final step, even under Obama. Obama admin officials talked with them.

Honestly, I can see a prolonged SOF presence but a pullout of most troops along with a major effort by Pakistan but they play both sides, especially re Waziristan. China could step in as they have a major stake in Afghanistan's rare earth elements but they don't want to involve themselves in the hornets nest unless it's completely necessary.

[HisGrace]

So much winning.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

We'll probably be funding the "moderate" Al Qaeda jihadists like in Syria.

[AtorBoltox]

16 years spent fighting what was inevitably going to happen anyway. Great job America

[Kringla Heimsins]

"The moderate elements of the Taliban". K.

[KingSweden]

“The Graveyard of Empires”

You’re up next, China! Have fun!

[NewYorkExpress]

What makes anyone think the Taliban is going to agree to this? Last I checked they were very "my way or get beheaded".

[Fuzzy Bear]

What makes anyone think the Taliban is going to agree to this? Last I checked they were very "my way or get beheaded".

The Taliban will agree with this as means to an end.  The end, of course, is something like the previous poster suggests.

Why have we been in Afghanistan so long?  That's a good question.  Ron Paul suggested in 2007 that we should "just leave"; I can't see the fault of that reasoning, all things considered.

The only thing I can say about this is that such a proposal is closer to what Trump suggested in his campaign than in traditional Neocon logic.  That part is, perhaps, an acceptable consolation prize of a sort.  Afghanistan is one of the biggest wastes of time, money, and lives I can think of.

[Nhoj]

This isn't really new state department policy, trying to bring some parts of the Taliban to negotiations has been ongoing for awhile now

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This isn't really new state department policy, trying to bring some parts of the Taliban to negotiations has been ongoing for awhile now

Ah, but has the State Dept ever tried to sell them Mar-a-Lago memberships before? (Joking, but I wouldn't be surprised.)

[Fuzzy Bear]

This may be the most depressing realistic foreign policy move yet by the Trump administration.

FIFY.

I do agree it's depressing, but this Afghan venture was destined to end up the way it has.  We should have sent a letter of marque and reprisal, done what we had to do in response to 9/11, and been done with Afghnistan. 

[Beet]

This isn't so bad. Once again, Tillerson is spouting common sense, but clearly he needs to get out of the way because Nikki Haley needs another mark on her resume.

[Crumpets]

Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine any lasting peace agreement in Afghanistan that doesn't have at least some level of participation from the Taliban in positions of authority. We can only hope that, when put in a position of legally-sanctioned governance, that they expose themselves as the sad cases they really are as opposed to anti-imperialist freedom fighters.

[Zioneer]

This is not going to end well for Afghanistan's ethnic and religious minorities...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

This is not going to end well for Afghanistan's ethnic and religious minorities...

Bad news for Afghanistan's Jew.

https://www.thejewniverse.com/2017/this-man-is-afghanistan-last-jew/