RK ARCHIVE - Republican Senate Leader: We Can't Defeat Taliban and Should Invite Them Into the Government!

Oui oui, c'est magnifique! Ooh la la, those Republicans are so tough on terror, n'est-ce pas?

By the way, this is the same Taliban that were intertwined with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to the extent that they "continued to harbor Bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks, protesting his innocence."

This is the group that the REPUBLICAN Majority Leader wants to bring into the Afghan government, after we've lost the war - inevitably, in his opinion. And they say the DEMOCRATS are "soft" on terrorists? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.

Comments

Yes, but, according to those same Republican leaders, (David Campbell - 10/4/2006 11:38:15 AM)

we must stay the course in our occupation of Iraq, the country which had nothing to do with the attack of 9/11. By the way, our own intelligence services have concluded that our occupation of Iraq makes the terrorist threat worse. This is Republicans keep America safe!

RE: Taliban (JPTERP - 10/4/2006 11:38:45 AM)

Same dilemma as the Baathists in Iraq.

Do you co-opt former Taliban and try to bring them into the regime; or do you marginalize them and continue to feed the insurgency.

On its face this seems stupid, but this is actually the right way to deal with an insurgency--Frist is actually on the right track.

You obviously don't let the worst of the worst back in (e.g. Mullah Omar in Afghanistan or Hussein in Iraq); but you do want to make distinctions between leaders and especially between leaders and rank and file members.

Alternatively, we could spend another 30 years in Afghanistan, ship another 20,000 U.S. troops over and suffer more American casualties. I prefer Frist's approach.

Marginalization (Teddy - 10/4/2006 12:21:50 PM)

Correct: embrace (even if rather gingerly) the more moderate or workable elements of the insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, AND Palestine. Give them a stake in the system, which is a classic of how to deal with the aspirations of those previously shut out--- and then it is possible to marginalize the violent and selfish or the religious extremists who thrive on destabilizing society. This means a genuine inclusion, not a token for show, or photo op. Of course, Bush may have so esacerbated the situation that they are so allergic to the United States and to each other by now that nothing will soothe them. But we won't know until we make a genuine effort.

Thinking Emotionally (norman swingvoter - 10/4/2006 12:42:06 PM)

After the bush administration calls millions of us traitors for disagreeing with its war strategy, what there was of it. After all this cut-and-run and stay-the-course crap, now the bush administration says it has lost the Afghan war. The bush administration has certainly given me the impression that the war was to wipe the taliban out, not weaken it and bring in back into the new government. This was the actual country involved in 9/11. On November 8, the bushes will probably say we can't win in Iraq either. These people act like they are playing a video game !!!

More (norman swingvoter - 10/4/2006 1:21:09 PM)

I first saw a mention of this in yesterday's Richmond Times Dispatch, not exactly a liberal bastion. I believe that the full article is below.

http://www.washingto...

Walk Softly and carry a big stick (Gordie - 10/4/2006 1:35:51 PM)

Walk softly when insulting those comments. The Democratic leaders are pushing a plan which is similiar to what Frist is saying. He is stealing the Democrats words and now baiting you all into a trap. Yes the word will bounce back that we are flip floppers.

A plan of talk is always a good plan. Let the talks continue from there. Remember the IRA rebellion and the years it drug on, but when the parties were ready to sit at the table the terror tactics ended. Talk never hurts. Besides it fits with our label of "Liberals".

Christ was a Liberal and anytime some one calls me a Liberal I am proud of it.

Re: Its About The bush administration (norman swingvoter - 10/4/2006 9:01:17 PM)

Thanks, however, having been drafted into a former badly bungled war, I am somewhat hypersenitive about the subject. My remarks have nothing to do with where we go from here, but where we have been. The bush administration declared that it was going to militarily defeat the taliban and start this showcase Afghan democracy: it refused to listen to our best and brightest military commanders such as Colin Powell, it refused to listen to our troops on the ground who were begging for additonal troops to stop bin laden and the taliban from escaping, it pulled critical troops to start another war in Iraq, and now it has to admit that we have lost, based on the original objectives as defined by it. I call this holding someone accountable. At this point Jim Webbs plan and the Democratic plan is the only reasonable hope. I agree that we have to avoid getting stuck in a 10-20 year quagmire such as northern ireland or the russian afghan war. However, I also feel that the bush administration could have won the war based on its stated objectives if it had followed the advice of our best and brightest military people rather than ignoring them to go off on some fantasy adventure, advised by morons.