Afghan-Taliban Hold Talks as U.S. Loses Influence
Taliban and Afghan representatives met on Saturday and Sunday, May 2nd and May 3rd for talks in Qatar, hosted by the Pugwash Conferences. The Qatari government, which has a history of close relationships with the Taliban, has routinely tried to foster peace talks, even agreeing to host a Taliban political office in 2013. Although closed shortly afterwards after a diplomatic dispute, it will now be reopened as a result of the recent talks. Also attending the conference were representatives from the United Nations.
Both the Taliban and Afghan government stated that these talks were “scientific discussions” and not peace talks. However, the topics of conversation, the report released by the Pugwash conferences, and the plan for another meeting all indicate otherwise.
A report of the 2-day meeting indicates that representatives on both sides were eager to discuss demands and terms of peace. They also all agreed that foreign forces must leave Afghanistan soon.
Beyond that, the Taliban argued for delisting sanctioned Taliban officials and called for prisoners to be released. Both groups expressed a desire to speed up the peace process and said that future talks should include more members of Afghanistan’s government.
Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar, the foreign policy committee chief at the Afghan government’s High Peace Council stated, “These are not peace talks. But it would be fair to say that this is the most encouraging development we’ve seen in a while.”
The Afghan government is eager to end the thirteen-year war that has raged in their country. However the Taliban refuses to stop launching attacks until all foreign forces are out of Afghanistan. On May 4th, 2015, less than 24 hours after the talks concluded, a Taliban attack on Afghan checkpoints reportedly killed 16 policemen.
Once the foreign forces have been withdrawn, there is nothing to prevent the Taliban from retaking the country. In the past year the Taliban has already retaken strategic territory in areas where U.S. and other NATO forces have withdrawn.
The U.S. is placed in a difficult position as a result of these talks, which should never have been allowed to take place. When the discussions over the opening of talks first began in 2012, the United States found itself agreeing to a series of unacceptable conditions,including the release of high-level prisoners (something achieved as a result of the Bergdahl swap). The result is the United States finds itself locked into granting the Taliban’s key demands while making itself increasingly incapable of applying pressure on the Taliban, and prevent them from achieving their end goal.
This is disturbingly similar to the results of ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations, where the Administration has likewise granted demands merely for the pleasure of continued negotiations, while losing the ability to enforce any U.S. demands.
Strategic gains given away at the negotiating table are almost impossible to cover without a high cost in American lives.
