- Jul 27, 2003
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'Reach out to the Taliban': British defence secretary LONDON, March 29 (AFP) - Britain should reach out to elements of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan who can be won over to the side of democracy, Defence Secretary Des Browne said in an interview published in Daily Telegraph Saturday. Browne said conflict resolution was about persuading people who believe that violence is the way to achieve their aims to try to fulfil their ambitions through politics instead. And that meant engaging with individuals or groups, even if their views were disagreeable. He applied the argument to Taliban insurgents as well as Lebanon's Hezbollah. His comments come after Jonathan Powell, who was former prime minister Tony Blair's top adviser, said in a March 15 interview with The Guardian that Western nations should talk to the likes of the Taliban, Hamas and Al-Qaeda. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
I think this should have been done a long time before. Before the Afghan war itself. I think the British now realize that they can not defeat the Taliban as easily as the initially thought. Even the new Pakistani PM thinks the same.
PM Gilani asks militants to abandon path of violence; vows restoration of deposed judges ISLAMABAD, March 29 (AFP): Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday urged militants to renounce violence and offered to hold talks with those who give up arms and join the new democratic era. Addressing the parliament after wining a unanimous vote of confidence, Gilani said terrorism was the biggest threat undermining Pakistan's stability. ?Our first priority will be restoration of law and order and elimination of terrorism from the country,? said Gilani. ?The fight against terrorism is our own fight because it has claimed innocent lives of children and young men of Pakistan?unfortunately some people have made violence a means to express their views. I appeal to all those people to abandon the path of violence and join us in the journey of democracy.? Gilani promised a special package of political and economic reforms in tribal areas as part of government strategy to fight terrorism and extremism. Gilani also said his government would continue efforts to reinstate judges ousted by President Musharraf in November last year under emergency rule and said the government would ensure the independence of the judiciary. (First Posted @ 13:25 PST, Updated @ 14:40 PST)
I guess it is up to the American people now to make their war-criminal leaders stop this needless war and bloodshed. It is time for them to do something instead of ducking their faces in to the ground like ostriches. The American Empire's fall has started. When will people learn not to over stretch their resources?