Peace is in the air in Afghanistan

[Marauder06]

according to this article, at least.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/...s-peace-really-in-the-air-in-afghanistan?lite

KABUL, Afghanistan - There’s something wafting in the air in Afghanistan, and for once it’s not the smell of detritus, diesel or cordite. People – rivals, even enemies -- are talking about peace. Not just talks about talks – those have been going on – and off – for a couple of years now. But serious, genuine moves toward reconciliation are – for the first time since I can remember – actually squeezing into an otherwise depressing narrative of stalemate and loss.

Take the Pakistani government’s Dec. 31 release from prison of eight former Taliban members, including Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s right-hand man and former justice minister, Mullah Turabi. This move, Afghan analysts say, is part of a new strategy, formulated in a November meeting between Afghan and Pakistani officials in Islamabad. The release, they say, was more than a goodwill gesture between bitter rivals. The clear hope was that freed former Taliban officials with the stature of Turabi would serve as emissaries, clearing the way for peace talks between Hamid Karzai’s government and the current Taliban leadership – based in Pakistan – and with the Pakistan government’s blessing.

"Goodwill gesture." More like "act of desperation which will not be reciprocated nor advance the "peace" agenda."

You know what a goodwill gesture would be? The HQN releasing THEIR prisoners for a change. You know, like US Soldier Bowe Berghdahl. You guys remember him?

 

[AWP]

If you hang on long enough they'll give you a seat at the grown-ups table.

Karzai's dad is spinning in his grave. His son working with the very people who killed him...

 

[pardus]

This kind of thing makes me want to start a tourism company. I think I'm going to call it...

"Crusade 2013" You can't have Slaughter without laughter!

 

[Viper1]

Right now the only way peace is in the air in my area is through lots of 5.56, 7.62 and 40mm. The gov't may be in talks with Pakistan but every Afghani I've worked with hates Pakistan. Go figure.

 

[Teufel]

For the record, peace is in the air but you can still smell the body odor, poo, diesel fuel and other lovely smells the Afghani countryside has to offer.

 

[fox1371]

Yeah all I smell out here is smoke. I went outside and checked for the scent of peace, but quickly realized it wasn't there and I came back inside.

 

[Chopstick]

Clearly Jim has been sniffing something other than the smell of peace. More like glue. Covered Afghanistan since the 1980s and is smelling peace? NBC correspondent, please.

Cynics – and there are many – aren’t buying any of it. Their arguments are well-known: They say civil war will break out as soon as the U.S. and its allies go home; that the moderate Taliban may want to put down their AKs and become a political force, but it’s the hard-core who rule, and who believe they’re winning the war; that all the peace feelers are just ways of buying time while the Afghan Taliban ratchets up its attacks on local security forces and the Pakistani Taliban doubles down on its side of the border, most recently killing a group of female NGO and aid workers.
All that rings true. But then I take a deep breath –- and smell that very different smell -– and ask: could this really be the turning point I’ve been writing about for so long?
Jim Maceda is an NBC News foreign correspondent based in London and currently on assignment in Kabul, who’s covered Afghanistan since the 1980s.

 

[AWP]

This kind of thing makes me want to start a tourism company. I think I'm going to call it...

"Crusade 2013" You can't have Slaughter without laughter!

Do you need a tour guide? I'll work the first group without pay.

 

[RackMaster]

Do you need a tour guide? I'll work the first group without pay.

I'd actually like to tour the place as a tourist one day by as long as I have an AK and gun truck

 

[A11Amer!can]

I'd actually like to tour the place as a tourist one day by as long as I have an AK and gun truck

It could be a very nice vacation spot, up north is beautiful. Just hit the reset button on the population there first...


Sent from somewhere in Tx using Tapatalk

 

[Marauder06]

Looks like we might be quitting sooner than expected:

http://news.msn.com/politics/obama-karzai-agree-to-speed-military-transition

President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday they have agreed to speed up slightly the schedule for moving Afghanistan's security forces into the lead across the country, with U.S. troops shifting fully to a support role. The leaders also said Obama agreed to place battlefield detainees under the control of the Afghan government.
Obama, appearing in the East Room of the White House with Karzai at his side, said accelerating the transition to Afghan security control this spring would set the stage for further withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces, although he did not say how quickly a U.S. drawdown would be carried out this year and next. There are now 66,000 U.S. troops there.
"Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission: training, advising and assisting Afghan forces," Obama said. "It will be a historic moment."
He added later that even in a backup role he could not rule out that U.S. troops could be drawn into combat. But he emphasized that their main role would be support, such as training and advising.
Karzai said he was pleased by the agreement, in part because it means that by spring there will be no foreign troops in Afghan villages.
Asked about the decision to accelerate the transition to Afghan security control - a shift that previously was scheduled to happen this summer - Obama said it was not yet clear what it would mean for the pace of U.S. troop withdrawals this year. He said that was "something that isn't yet fully determined" and is awaiting further internal deliberation.

 

[AWP]

But I'm not done outfitting the Batcave. How can I war profiteer without a war?

The next 18 months are going to be "sporting".

 

[DA SWO]

15,000 within 12 months, out by 2015.
Kharzi is dead/back in France 60 days after we leave.
I see NATO gone in 6 months, non-NATO troops 90 days later.
Then we can stop giving Wacky-stan aid and aid to Ass-crackistan gets cut off when the Taliban take over.

In some way, a win for the taxpayer.

 

[SkrewzLoose]

Marauder06 , I watched about 10 minutes of that on TV whilst warming myself up at the gym this afternoon. There seemed to be a lot of "if we're not out" "this is how the roles will be different after 2014" and the like from Obama. I really didn't like the "training and advising" bit as it leaves our folks wide open for more blue on green violence. Granted, it was only 10 minutes and I'm not sure at what point, but it didn't seem like such a sure thing.