Should the US negotiate with the Taliban?

Americans this Friday remember for the 9th time the tragic event of September 11th 2001 when airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers killings thousands. The tragic attack not only inflicted harm to the families, which lost their beloved ones, but exacted major psychological harm to the Bush administration and the entire American populace. In retaliation, President George W Bush declared a War against Terrorism and attacked and consequently removed the Taliban administration in Afghanistan; a thing that was welcomed by millions of people around the world. However, although the Afghan operation was successful it didn’t finish the job….in fact, it caused more tension. Plenty of criticism arose a few years later by analysts, over the war-like approach the Republican administration chose, who strongly believe that dialogue would have been better, especially in the case of Iraq. I believe that the American approach, although it receives criticism, has registered significant successes as was witnessed in the recently concluded Afghan presidential elections. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the election process by attacking all the polling posts, something they did not achieve due to the well-coordinated security provided by the American and the British security forces operating in Afghanistan. As a Swahili saying states, “dawa ya moto ni moto”; literally meaning that “what cures fire is fire itself”. The Taliban is simply a group that cannot be talked to; it is a destructive force that doesn’t dialogue. Their satisfaction is derived from how many litres of blood they shed and how many people lose their lives. Such a group needs to be taken head on and be destroyed before they cause more trouble. It is very fortunate that the US President, Barack Obama, realized that and increased the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan. He is very much conscious of the fact that the war against the Taliban, and in effect al-Qaeda, cannot simply be won through dialogue as some of us think but through direct and physical military engagement. Therefore to agree with the opinion of many, the only alternative to fight and win this war is through taking the George Bush route. The Taliban need to be hammered militarily until they surrender. phatari@yahoo.co.uk