President Obama's Afghan strategy has come under intense scrutiny. (tt Dunham/AP)Barack Obama: Taleban Can Be Involved In Afghanistan Future -- Times Online
President Obama is prepared to accept some Taleban involvement in Afghanistan’s political future and is unlikely to favour a large influx of new US troops being demanded by his ground commander, a senior official said tonight.
Mr Obama appears to have been swayed in recent days by arguments from some advisers, led by Vice-President Joe Biden, that the Taleban do not pose a direct threat to the US and that there should be greater focus on tackling al-Qaeda inside Pakistan.
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My Comment: In 1987, the Afghan Government with their Soviet allies were advocating the same idea of having the Mujahideen at the time (called the Taliban today) be involved in a future Afghan Government. The plan did not work for the simple reason that the Mujahideen decided to fight for eventual victory and withdrawal of Soviet forces.
I predict that the same thing will happen now .... but instead of Soviet forces it will be U.S./Allied forces that will be withdrawing.
When I read books on the history of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan, I get a chill when I see the same thing that the Soviets did being duplicated by us. Our advanced technology has balanced the battlefield to our advantage .... but if it was not for our UAVs, night sensors, precision bombing, etc., as well as the excellent training of our soldiers .... our casualties would be multiple times what they are now, and our position will be precarious at best .... or a complete and unmitigated disaster at the worse.