Daily Times

In a tactical policy shift this week, the Trump administration said it will consider holding direct talks with the Taliban to encourage peace negotiations between the terrorist group and the Afghan government in an effort to bring an end to the 17-year-old war, US media reported.

Previously, the Trump administration appeared willing to participate in discussions with the Taliban only if those talks also involved the Afghan government.

In Washington, State Department’s spokesperson Heather Nauert confirmed that the United States ‘is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan government.’ The US position ‘has not changed’, she said. “Any peace and reconciliation talks have to be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned.”

The Taliban have long refused peace negotiations with the Afghan government, insisting to speak with the US administration instead. The militant group adhered to their stance despite Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s offer for unconditional peace talks along with a unilateral extension to last month’s Eid ceasefire.

In recent months, both Washington and Kabul have urged the Taliban to consider renewed peace negotiations to end America’s longest war in the region. Despite New York Times reporting a change in policy, the NATO-led Resolute Mission rejected the statements attributed to Gen John Nicholson regarding direct talks between Trump administration and the Taliban. “The United States is not a substitute for the Afghan people or the Afghan government,” said Gen Nicholson in a statement. “My reaffirmation of Secretary Pompeo’s statement in which he said peace talks would include a discussion of international forces and that the United States is ready to work with the Taliban, the Afghan government and the Afghan people towards lasting peace, was mischaracterized.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued his statement on June 16, days after Afghan government’s unilateral ceasefire with the Taliban was announced by President Ashraf Ghani. “As President Ghani emphasized in his statement to the Afghan people, peace talks by necessity would include a discussion of the role of international actors and forces,” Pompeo had said in his statement. “The United States is prepared to support, facilitate and participate in these discussions.”

The Taliban may respond positively to the new peace initiatives but are unlikely to make significant concessions when they feel they are winning the 17-year-old war, according to Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre in Washington DC. It was hoped the US and NATO troops may have persuaded the Taliban to talk peace, but, Kugelman said, the Taliban are making major battlefield gains and control more territory now than they ever had. “The Taliban do not have much incentive to hold talks right now,” he said.

Washington has made major concessions – such as ceding major ground to the ‘enemy’. A tactical move that may have been considered ‘flexible’ by the US. However, Kugelman said, “Washington has effectively given in to the Taliban’s sole precondition for talks.” The Taliban will view this as ‘a tactical, strategic, and PR victory’, he said. Any major push for peace talks by the US is ‘an acknowledgment of failure because it indicates an admission that the war can’t be won militarily’, he said. “The Taliban have never felt a need to negotiate in a serious way because they have always done so well on the battlefield,” he added.

In August 2017, US President Donald Trump launched South Asia strategy that focused on increasing the capabilities of Afghan security forces and compel the Taliban to negotiate peace with the Afghan government, with help from Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd 2018.