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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (101571)	2/22/2005 4:21:58 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793928

Taliban Giving Up In Afghanistan? By Captain Ed on War on Terror The Taliban, who once embodied the ideal of Islamofascism in their brutal tyranny over the Afghan people, have all but stopped their terrorist war against the Hamid Karzai democracy. In fact, thanks to a high-ranking and popular defector from the previous regime, the Taliban remnants have surrendered in order to join an amnesty program that promises to end the civil war and secure the Afghani democracy: news.telegraph.co.uk One of the Taliban's most senior and charismatic commanders has become a key negotiator as more and more members of the Islamic militia in Afghanistan give up the fight against the Americans. The commander, Abdul Salam, earned the nickname Mullah Rockety because he was so accurate with rocket propelled grenades against Russian troops. ... After the Taliban's three-year struggle against a superior US force, there is growing optimism among the Americans and Afghan government that the end is close. More than 1,000 people have died in violence in the past 18 months, but attacks have tailed off since the guerrillas failed to make good their vow to disrupt the presidential election in October, which saw a huge turnout and was won by Mr Karzai. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said yesterday that a group of Taliban militia including senior officials will soon join the Afghan government's peace initiative. "They are in Kabul seeking peace and to boost the reconciliation process," he said, adding that he was hopeful that the Taliban surrender would take place before the parliamentary elections, expected in the summer. Will anyone report that the war is over when the Taliban come out of the hills and join the free Afghan people? Doubtful. The American media have all fled the success of Afghanistan and only one or two reporters remain to document Karzai's bold and effective initiative to entice lower-level Taliban to come in from the cold. Only Mullah Omar and around 150 or so terrorist leaders have no eligibility for the amnesty program, and former officials held in high regard such as Salam have campaigned to draw the eligible into it. Omar, for his part, scoffs at the notion that any of his followers would lose faith in his leadership and vision. Omar insists that the lull is due only to bad weather, and plans a major spring offensive against US and Karzai-loyal troops. In that sense, he is a figure reminiscent of Adolf Hitler in his last bunker days, giving orders for grand strategies to non-existent armies while his lackeys plan their escape. The Afghans have taken well to democracy, another example of a region long shortchanged by the bigotry of the West, where people insisted that Afghans could not be trusted with self-determination. Bush proved that democracy transforms, and now even a good portion of the Taliban have seen it for themselves.