German soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol northern Afghanistan, September 2008. Afghan and coalition forces killed more than two dozen militants in separate operations in Afghanistan.(AFP/DDP/File/Michael Kappeler)
Taliban Two-Step: Can’t Sit Down Yet -- Newsweek
Everyone's talking about talking to the Taliban. But before we jaw-jaw, there will be more war-war.
Don't even ask Mullah Sabir about peace talks. There's nothing to talk about, says the tall, burly Afghan, one of the Taliban's highest-ranking commanders. "This is not a political campaign for policy change or power sharing or cabinet ministries," he tells NEWSWEEK at a textiles shop on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. "We are waging jihad to bring Islamic law back to Afghanistan." The refusal to negotiate comes straight from the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, says Sabir, who did not want his full name used: "The tone of his rejection has been so strong from the first that no one would dare to raise the subject with him." The trouble is, Sabir hasn't seen Mullah Omar in years, and he doesn't know of anyone who has. Internet posts released in Mullah Omar's name on Muslim holy days are the only hint that the one-eyed Commander of the Faithful is still alive. All the same, Sabir says he and thousands of other Taliban won't stop fighting until they're back in power.
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My Comment: This war has a long way to go before peace negotiations commence. To begin .... the Taliban believe that they are going to win, and that negotiations would only entrench the forces that they are fighting against. In addition,the Afghan Government and many in NATO are not pursuing an agenda to fight and defeat the Taliban. Many Afghan institutions are corrupt, and NATO countries like Germany and France go out of their way not to fight the Taliban.