In an unexpected overture at a time of increasing bloodshed in Afghanistan, the Taliban have published an open letter expressing a desire for peace talks and calling on the \u201cAmerican people\u201d and \u201cpeace-loving congressmen\u201d to pressurise the Donald Trump administration into negotiations.<\/p>\n
The letter, released by the Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, comes amid deteriorating conditions for US and Afghan coalition forces on the battlefield and after a month in which two Taliban assaults on Kabul killed 150 civilians.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has sent mixed messages about its readiness to have contact with the Taliban, but it has insisted that all substantive negotiations would have to be led by the Afghan government.<\/p>\n
For its part, the Taliban refuses to talk to the Afghan government without first discussing the withdrawal of foreign troops with its powerful ally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the policy of using force is continued for another one hundred years,\u201d the letter reads, \u201cthe outcome will be the same … as you have observed over the last six months since the initiation of Trump\u2019s new strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2,800-word letter favours US and UN-produced statistics over apocalyptic threats. In an attempt to persuade the US public that the war is unwinnable it cites the \u201c3,546 American and foreign soldiers\u201d killed, an \u201c87% rise\u201d in heroin production in 2017, and the assessment from the US watchdog the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction that Taliban control on the ground has increased significantly.<\/p>\n
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\nIn what appears to be a nod to rising support for the Taliban from Russia and Iran, the statement refers to the \u201cinternational community\u201d now \u201cbacking our justified resistance\u201d.<\/p>\n
The letter also highlights the \u201ctens of billions of dollars\u201d spent in Afghanistan \u201ccollected from you in tax and revenue\u201d but then given \u201cto thieves and murderers\u201d, it claims.<\/p>\n
Such arguments have an ear in Washington. On Monday, the Taliban invited the libertarian senator Rand Paul for talks at their office in Qatar, after he claimed the US\u2019s projected $45bn (\u00a332.5bn) spend in Afghanistan over 2018 amounted to money \u201cthrown down a hatch\u201d.<\/p>\n
This invitation stands a better chance of influencing US policy than the \u201cgeneralised\u201d open letter, according to Thomas Ruttig, of the thinktank the Afghan Analysts Network.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the US state department said the Taliban was welcome to join peace talks, but added that the onus was now on the insurgents to end their campaign of violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taliban statement alone does not show willingness to engage in peace talks. The Taliban\u2019s recent horrific terror attacks in Kabul speak louder than these words,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThe Afghan government can only negotiate to end the war if the Taliban are ready. The recent attacks show this is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nThere are conflicting views within the US administration, however. The secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has said the US is open to talks with \u201cmoderate voices\u201d in the Taliban, which could form part of the Kabul government.<\/p>\n
Even after Trump\u2019s comments, Tillerson\u2019s deputy, John Sullivan, said US policy remained the pursuit of Afghan-led talks with the Taliban, and suggested Trump\u2019s remarks referred to a refusal to talk to hardliners while attacks were under way. Talks with the Taliban, Sullivan said this month, would \u201chappen over time when conditions warrant and it\u2019s appropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Even if ignored by policymakers, the Taliban\u2019s public plea showcases an effective evolution in their propaganda, according to a western official unauthorised to speak publicly. \u201cI hate to say it,\u201d said the official, \u201cbut they have started to hit where it hurts simply by telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Semple, a former UN and EU negotiator with the Taliban, suggested the letter said more about the internal politics of the insurgency, between moderates based in Qatar and more hardline elements in Afghanistan and Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taliban have refused talks with the government of Afghanistan. To legitimise that position, they are putting it out that they are open to talks with the US,\u201d said Semple, who is now a professor at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. \u201cThe letter is not conveying a serious proposal, but is an attempt to provide cover for a hardline position (with which I suspect most Taliban in Qatar disagree).\u201d<\/p>\n
Simon Gass, a former Nato senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, said: \u201cAlthough the Taliban have had success on the ground, it has come at a big price in terms of losses. Morale is said by experts not to be great, particularly given the faction fighting which followed the deaths of [Taliban leaders] Mullah Omar and Mullah Mansour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe encroachment of Isis is a problem for the Taliban \u2013 they may be feeling the heat. The US intention to raise force levels will also discourage them. So this could be a significant move. But it could also be a tactic designed to disarm those in the US who are against any troop increase and to divide the Afghan and US governments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an unexpected overture at a time of increasing bloodshed in Afghanistan, the Taliban have published an open letter expressing a desire for peace talks and calling on the \u201cAmerican people\u201d and \u201cpeace-loving congressmen\u201d to pressurise the Donald Trump administration into negotiations. The letter, released by the Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, comes amid deteriorating conditions for US and Afghan coalition… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1410,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions\/1410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}