The war in Afghanistan has reached a stalemate and the best time to jump-start a political settlement with the Taliban is now, according to a report released Wednesday by a U.S. think tank.
The report, issued by the Century Foundation, said the U.S. and Afghanistan's neighbors, especially Pakistan, must play key roles in any negotiations. Demands that the Taliban sever ties with al-Qaida or that foreign troops exit the nation, for example, should be considered goals, not preconditions of talks, the 126-page report said. The group also proposed that a neutral party, perhaps the United Nations, be named to facilitate the process.
Stalemate? We're kicking their asses. And we hold the government, so even stalemate means our side is in power and their side is enjoying cave dwelling and Predator drones overhead.
But I won't waste my time analyzing the report--or even glancing at it. The three sentences of the article highlight the flaws: The Taliban can remain buddies with al Qaeda, Pakistan gets a key role, and the UN should facilitate the process. Can you see victory in that combination? Me neither.
Then consider that the Century Foundation that wrote the thing is a "progressive" group. In the context of warfare, that means they haven't a clue about war and they find it distasteful that we might win one of them.
And then add in the fact that Lawrence Korb is associated with the task force that wrote the report for the foundation. He--the accordion of defense policy advice--is so worthless as a defense analyst that it is only logical that a progressive think tank would turn to him for wisdom.
Look, I have no problem with negotiating while we hammer them. I have never said that it is necessary or wise to kill every last enemy. To the contrary, flipping the enemy is always good, and negotiations to do that are fine. But for the Left, negotiation means finding ways to save an enemy from defeat and deny our side victory.
It's always time to retreat for these people. Ignore them and let General Petraeus do his job.
