Rendering №8

     The editorial published on the website of the newspaper "The New York Times" on October 4 is headlined "Peace Talks With the Taliban". The article reports at length that though American military commanders long ago concluded that the Afghan war could only end in a negotiated settlement with the Taliban,  now the generals and civilian officials say even this hope is unrealistic before 2015 — after American and coalition troops are withdrawn. In resolute terms the author of the article expresses the view that though  persuading militants to negotiate a peace deal was always a daunting challenge, however, the Obama administration has not been persistent enough in figuring out how to initiate talks with a resilient, brutal insurgency that continues to carry out deadly attacks against American and NATO forces.

     It was revealed that  during the 2010 surge, when the United States added 33,000 troops to the 68,000 in Afghanistan and put maximum military pressure on the Taliban, top generals resisted negotiations, saying the focus should be only on military gains. Speaking of this situation, it's interesting to note that the talks between the United States and the Taliban began early this year but soon collapsed when the administration, faced with bipartisan opposition in Congress, could not complete a proposed prisoner swap. It is an open secret that the Taliban are internally divided and unwilling to meet Washington’s demands to sever all ties to Al Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the commitments to political and human rights in Afghanistan’s Constitution.

     There is every reason to believe that  the United States has not and should not give up completely on a negotiated solution or at least some movement toward reconciliation. The correspondent gives a warning that although there are no formal talks under way, there are contacts between the Taliban and Afghans and others. Besides, it is necessary to emphasize that Pakistan recently urged the insurgents to join the political process and agreed to help Washington vet potential new Taliban interlocutors. It's hard to predict the course of events in future, but there is some evidence that the 2014 presidential election is an interim agreement under which the Afghan opposition, the Taliban and others might endorse minimum objectives rejecting Al Qaeda and supporting an inclusive political system.

     In conclusion the author suggest that though it is hard to be optimistic, but with  American troops leaving Afghanistan, there should be an interest in advancing a political system that insurgents might see as an alternative to armed conflict. As for me, I think peace talks with the Taliban are impossible. They are terrorists and do not share the views of other people, especially Americans. Besides, I believe that the Taliban consider the USA as their main enemy, they are defending their interests, values and lives against a foreign invader. So this problem cannot be solved only by negotiations.