# Feds say Canada's policy in line with that of U.S. on Taliban



## CougarKing (8 Mar 2009)

Isn't this already being done by the CF?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_TALIBAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



> Mar 7, 9:09 PM EST
> 
> *Obama: US should reach out to Taliban moderates *
> 
> ...


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## Kilo_302 (9 Mar 2009)

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/03/09/mackay-afghanistan.html


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## The Bread Guy (10 Mar 2009)

I  heard the CBC radio version of an interview with MacKay, emphasizing him saying only the AFG government should talk to the Taliban, and only if the bad guys agree to lay down arms and work with the government.  

This seems a bit different than what the 
NYT quotes Obama saying Friday:


> ....President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and *opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban*, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq ....



A bit more context from the NYT piece:


> .... “If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of Al Qaeda in Iraq,” Mr. Obama said.
> 
> At the same time, he acknowledged that outreach may not yield the same success. “The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex,” he said. “You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, and so figuring all that out is going to be much more of a challenge.” ....


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## tomahawk6 (10 Mar 2009)

Obama must have made the comments without a teleprompter. ;D
On a serious note there may be moderate democrats and republicans BUT there are NO moderate taliban,or else they wouldnt be called taliban. The Obama foreign policy seems to be to buddy up to terrorists and sponsors of terrorists at the expense of our friends and allies.


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## The Bread Guy (10 Mar 2009)

A little bit more refinement of the idea, from VP Biden:  "....*whatever is initiated will have to be ultimately initiated by the Afghan government*, and will have to be such that it would not undermine a legitimate Afghan government...."


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## tomahawk6 (11 Mar 2009)

The taliban response "we're not moderate".
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-38433020090310



> Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday turned down as illogical U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to reach out to moderate elements of the insurgents, saying the exit of foreign troops was the only solution for ending the war.
> 
> Obama, in an interview with the New York Times, expressed an openness to adapting tactics in Afghanistan that had been used in Iraq to reach out to moderate elements there.
> 
> ...


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## OldSolduer (11 Mar 2009)

It appears we have the Taliban's answer and that it is a resounding "NO".


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## ModlrMike (11 Mar 2009)

OldSolduer said:
			
		

> It appears we have the Taliban's answer and that it is a resounding "NO".



Which won't stop the bigmouths on both sides of the border from claiming that talk is the only road to peace.


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## OldSolduer (11 Mar 2009)

ModlrMike said:
			
		

> Which won't stop the bigmouths on both sides of the border from claiming that talk is the only road to peace.



Ain't that the truth!! I say we ask these aforesaid "bigmouths" to volunteer their services to negotiate, talk with, chew the fat, whatever you want to call it, with Mullah Omar and his "peaceful" lot.
Do you think the aforesaid "bigmouths" will go? >


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