London is offering Taliban a ceasefire

[Andaluciae]

First off, the article is not claiming that the Brits are offering the Talib's a ceasefire. It's claiming that the Brown government is encouraging Karzai to accept some members of the Taliban into his government.

Secondly, the stern.de article is extremely short on sources. Their claims are largely based on a photo of a partial document whose veracity has yet to be confirmed.

Thirdly, stern.de has more delightful boobage on their front page than playboy.com.

Some other sources on the matter:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ ... th-Taliban

Oh, wait, I can't find anything about it anywhere else. I'd expect something like this would be big damn news. It's absence makes me think poor reporting and question the veracity of stern.de.

At least on matters not pertaining to boobs.

Those 'some' members are not only the small fishes and their local commanders, but also the top commanders and the members of the shadow governments, thus rather 'all'.

Once again, this isn't London offering the Taliban a ceasefire, this is the Brits encouraging the Afghan government to consider it.

Second, the veracity of the claim has yet to be proven. Until then, I am skeptical.

According Stern it's London who's pushing and it's London who's designing the modalities of the ceasefire. If Stern is correct then London is the puppet master.

I think odds are high that the article is correct since Stern published a part of the secret memo.

It one thing if the published portion of said "secret memo" had anything to do with their claims. But it doesn't. I'm not even convinced, having seen classified MOD documents regarding the F-35 JSF, that this is anything other than a "Hitler Diaries" type of hoax.

"Agenda Item 5: Regional Status

Overarching stability in Afghanistan cannot be reached without the cooperation of its neighbors. The NSID goal is that Afghanistan's neighbors cooperate with the government with the shared objective of a stable Afghan State. This will ultimately depend upon Afghanistan's neighbors having an..."

God knows what comes next. A flock of tasty geese for all we know. There is nothing in said photo of a "secret memo" to lead me to believe that this is anything but a hoax.

[SD_Film Artists]

Manchester and Norwich are still fighting them.

[Andaluciae]

Manchester and Norwich are still fighting them.

What about liverpool?

[Woolio]

Manchester and Norwich are still fighting them.

What about liverpool?

As long as Glasgow is still on board they'll be a force to be reckoned with

[Andaluciae]

Manchester and Norwich are still fighting them.

What about liverpool?

As long as Glasgow is still on board they'll be a force to be reckoned with

I thought as much. We'll have to keep our eyes open.

[Angleter]

I frankly don't give a shit about who is in charge of Afghanistan, and our governments shouldn't either.

[Angleter]

Manchester and Norwich are still fighting them.

What about liverpool?

Militant Tendency, who rule Liverpool, allied with the Taliban in the 1980s and are still on the fundamentalists' side. The Second City has remained neutral all through the conflict.

[Zeppy]

Treacherous limeys!

[Eofaerwic]

Those 'some' members are not only the small fishes and their local commanders, but also the top commanders and the members of the shadow governments, thus rather 'all'.

Yes because we all know that bringing leaders of terrorist organisations into the political process on the condition that they give up their violent struggle and thus engaging them in dialogue and compromise never works. Just look at Northern Ireland... oh wait.

It's still not the same as offering a full ceasefire, or surrendering, or many of the other things you claim they have done and frankly engaging dissident groups in the peaceful political process is the one thing that has been found to work time and time again. It's not unconditional, it does force them to give up violence and engage in dialogue if they want to be part of the process and should encourage more moderate elements to the forefront. It's certainly worth a try.

Also I'd love to know how the Stern got hold of those documents...

[Eofaerwic]

It one thing if the published portion of said "secret memo" had anything to do with their claims. But it doesn't. I'm not even convinced, having seen classified MOD documents regarding the F-35 JSF, that this is anything other than a "Hitler Diaries" type of hoax.

"Agenda Item 5: Regional Status

Overarching stability in Afghanistan cannot be reached without the cooperation of its neighbors. The NSID goal is that Afghanistan's neighbors cooperate with the government with the shared objective of a stable Afghan State. This will ultimately depend upon Afghanistan's neighbors having an..."

God knows what comes next. A flock of tasty geese for all we know. There is nothing in said photo of a "secret memo" to lead me to believe that this is anything but a hoax.

Yup - the section they published seems perfectly reasonable and says nothing similar to the article.

Oh and 'IN CONFIDENCE' is not an official UK protective marking. If this was a 'secret' memo, I would expect the protetive marking on the top to be at least CONFIDENTIAL and probably SECRET. As far as I can tell 'IN CONFIDENCE' is sometimes used for more "corporate" stuff - ie things that the organisation creating it might prefer not to get out (due to competition/business practices whatever) but is not officially protected.

[German Capitalists]

Giving in to Terrorists determined to destroy the West and establish their own Muslim domination at all costs, That's a Great Idea!

[Buffett and Colbert]

How naive

[Skeptikosia]

How naive

It's not naivete.

[Buffett and Colbert]

How naive

It's not naivete.

How is it not?

[Calemor]

Not all groups of the Taliban are necessarily bad, lets keep that in mind. We are not "democracy-builders of the world." We went into Afghanistan for one reason: It was a haven for Al Qaeda. If the Taliban is willing to break that relationship off, we may be successful there. It's as the OP stated, it's an example of "realpolitk" at work.

[Skeptikosia]

How naive

It's not naivete.

How is it not?

It's fear of backlash and appearing as less than "civilized."

[South Lorenya]

Last time they were dumb enough to let the government keep sharia; if they do let taliban takeover again, the next time they can make the new afghanistan so secular it'll make sweden look like a theocracy.

[New Manvir]

might be a good idea. AFAIK some elements of the Taliban are nationalists and not Islamic fundamentalists, so if you could maybe cause a schism within the Taliban then I'd support this idea. That is a pretty big IF though...Someone correct me if I'm wrong...