Support Grows for Pursuit of Peace Deals With the Taliban

By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
WSJ

KABUL -- The idea of talking to the Taliban -- a strategy advocated by Afghan officials -- has become increasingly seductive as the Western death toll in the conflict mounts.

Obama administration officials openly ponder an outreach to the leadership of Islamist militants, something that has been long advocated by European allies. Gen. Stanley McChrystal has already told the U.S.-led forces under his command here that "reintegrating" lower-level Taliban gunmen into Afghan society is as desirable as killing or capturing them.

In his assessment of the Afghan war, Gen. McChrystal explained that conflicts of this kind typically end with a reconciliation with elements of the insurgency -- and, in Afghanistan, may involve "high-level political settlements."

Afghan officials share this view. "Everyone has come to the conclusion that fighting is not a solution to the Afghan problem," says Sayed Sharif, director of the government's Commission for Peace and Reconciliation. "More combat brings nothing but destruction. History teaches us that the only solution is a negotiated one."

(More here.)