Musharraf Suggests We Mainstream The Taliban

At Counterterrorism Blog, Jeffrey Imm writes about Musharraf "calling for the political mainstreaming of the Taliban in Afghanistan:"

In the concluding August 12, 2007 session of the Afghan-Pakistan peace jirga meeting, Pakistan President Musharraf argued that there is a place for a mainstream Taliban in Afghanistan, as the "Taliban are a part of Afghan society".

Pakistan President Musharraf was quoted at this jirga arguing for acceptance of Taliban within Afghan society as long as such Taliban are not "diehard militant":

"We must understand the environment. Taliban are a part of Afghan society. Most of them may be ignorant and misguided, but all of them are not diehard militants and fanatics who even defy the most fundamental values of our culture and our faith Islam." He said that military action was necessary against Al Qaeda militants and Taliban diehards who refused to reconcile, but a more comprehensive political and development approach was needed to defeat extremism and 'Talibanization'. "Talibanization and extremism ... represent a state of mind and require a more comprehensive long-term strategy where military action must be combined with a political approach and socio-economic development". More importantly, he said, the population that appears to be sympathetic to the Taliban is not militant. "Our approach must be focused on isolating those diehard militants who reject reconciliation and peace. Here, it is a question of winning hearts and minds," he said.

What's next? Calls for a politically mainstreamed Al-Qaeda?

This illustrates how imperative it is for America to remember why they are at war and with whom.

You would think that a year after his failed truce with the Pakistan Taliban in Waziristan, Musharraf would see making deals with the Taliban for the appeasement it is. Musharraf's failure to get this is reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain's "peace for our time" declaration. Read the whole thing.