Negotiate with the Taliban? Yawn.

Posted By Blake Hounshell Sunday, March 8, 2009 - 10:09 AM Share

Helene Cooper has a good story today unpacking the issue of whether the United States should negotiate with elements of the Taliban. But I wouldn't worry about this point if I were U.S. President Barack Obama: 

And getting to the absence of war may require making the American public comfortable with the idea that the Taliban might not necessarily equal Al Qaeda.

For one thing, there's little evidencce the U.S. public has ever paid much attention to Afghanistan and I don't think that even now, with news organizations ramping up their coverage of the war there, that the vast majority of ordinary folks will care how CENTCOM chief Gen. David Petraeus et al go about their business -- if they even know what is going on at all.

Americans just want the U.S. war effort there to succeed. Period. The "how" is a very Washington debate, I'd wager.

EXPLORE:AFGHANISTAN
 

CURIOUS OBSERVER

12:56 AM ET

March 9, 2009

Agreed

7+ years of propaganda have taught the booboisie to believe Taliban = al Qaeda.

Now this is a potential problem for Gen. Petraeus if he still wants to run for president down the line. You know, selling out to terrorists, that whole thing.

What to do?

I suspect a campaign will soon be underway to redefine these "good Taliban." The line will be that they aren't really Taliban, they're just fierce Pushtun tribesmen.

That has the advantage of being true. Too bad nobody in authority wanted to acknowledge it till now.

 

MONEYINABOX

10:52 AM ET

March 9, 2009

I agree with Blake

Obama has already shown he won't pander to the lowest common denominator of American intellect (or lack thereof). The vast majority of the country just wants the job finished successfully. If Don's neighbor can't wrap his head around the complexities of a conflict he clearly doesn't understand, it is not the job of the current administration to hold his hand and explain it to him. Perhaps several years ago this would not be possible, but those days are gone. Parts of Washington may bloviate over this new policy shift, but as Blake said, most Americans have more important things on their plate.

As for Petraeus, I highly doubt he is currently making strategic decisions with his political future in mind. Accusing him of such greatly calls into question his professionalism, not to mention it would be transparently obvious and he'd be called on it. Moreover, being hailed as the man who brought relative stability to two conflicts spiraling out of control would only be seen as a good thing by the American electorate, irregardless of methodology.

 

CIMAT1984

11:50 AM ET

March 9, 2009

Americans were not paying attention to Afghanistan because....

The Bush/Cheney regime was busy ramming Iraq down our throats for the past 5 years as the "center of the war on terror." Afghanistan was put on the back burner by them. Obama has properly reoriented our military efforts to where the national security threat actually exists - in Afghanistan, and the anarchic areas of western Pakistan.

As far as whether or not Obama negotiates with parts of the Taliban, who cares? As long as security goals are achieved, and we can eventually bring the troops home, after Mullah Omar and Bin Laden are captured or killed.

 

KROTHROCK

1:41 PM ET

March 9, 2009

Does Petraeus Still Fit the U.S. Political Diet?

I have trouble imagining Petraeus as our next president (or our next-next president), but I suppose we are assuming a post-financial-crisis America, where the Democrats and Republicans don't feel compelled to ratchet up their nominees along minority/gender lines. After Palin and Michael Steele, I expect the next GOP headliner to look quite different from General Petraeus. As for the Democrats, does their new national coalition that defeated the Southern Bloc of conservatives hold up in the hands of another good ole white boy?

Regarding the Taliban, I agree with the author here that America isn't going to care how the U.S. stabilizes Afghanistan, just that it's done.

Also, if Americans can be miseducated that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, they can be retrained to believe anything the Obama Administration needs. What happened to the days when we all feared the White House's ability to make Americans think anything??

 

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