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Afghan officials said to talk frequently with the Taliban. Here are their demands

A senior Afghan security official, who had taken notes on the details of talks, rifled through a black leather-bound book until he came to a list he called "Taliban talking points."

The Afghan security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the Taliban wanted certain amendments to the constitution — although not immediately. They also envisioned an Islamic system of governance in Afghanistan, he said.

Among the Taliban's demands, according to the official:

— They accepted education for boys and girls at all levels, but wanted segregation by gender.

— Women could be employed in all fields, including defense and the judiciary, and they could serve as judges at all levels except the Supreme Court. However, the Taliban wanted constitutional guarantees that a woman could not be president.

— Special courts should be established to oversee thousands of cases that allege land was taken illegally by the rich and powerful in the post-Taliban era. Many of the land owners are former warlords who are now in the government. The Taliban wants the land returned to those from whom it was taken.

— Elections could be held after an interim government is established, with no one affiliated with past governments allowed to serve in the interim administration. The Taliban said all sides could keep areas currently under their control until voting is held.
But the Taliban told AP they were not interested in talks.

A member of the Afghan government's High Peace Council, Abdul Hakim Mujahed, who also served as the Taliban's representative at the United Nations during their rule, said there is deep mistrust on both sides.

Mujahed said it is also unlikely the Taliban will enter talks without a guarantee of an eventual troop withdrawal.

"They have moved away from demanding immediate withdrawal but they want a discussion with the Americans on a timetable," he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-afghan-officials-taliban-20170830-story.html
 

Luschient

Member
We've been in Afghanistan for what? 15+ years now?

And not only is the Taliban still around and apparently laying out plans for Afghanistan's future but they have fucking offices in other countries?

The Associated Press has seen documents describing the conversations between the Afghan officials and the Taliban leadership in both Pakistan and the Gulf state of Qatar, where they maintain an office.

Is the Talban just so entrenched in everyday life there that there's no way to eventually withdraw from that country without them being involved in a leadership capacity afterwards?
 

m3k

Member
constitutionally no woman president or high court judges

well to be honest i expected worse
 
We've been in Afghanistan for what? 15+ years now?

And not only is the Taliban still around and apparently laying out plans for Afghanistan's future but they have fucking offices in other countries?



Is the Talban just so entrenched in everyday life there that there's no way to eventually withdraw from that country without them being involved in a leadership capacity afterwards?

They control 40% of the country.
 

snap

Banned
— Elections could be held after an interim government is established, with no one affiliated with past governments allowed to serve in the interim administration. The Taliban said all sides could keep areas currently under their control until voting is held.

Read: nobody from the current non-Taliban government can come back to lead, and nobody who served in the Taliban government can either, but anybody in the Taliban leadership right now who wasn't in the government proper back then (and since it's been 15 years, that means a good amount of the current leadership) can serve in a new government. So Taliban gets over-represented just by the amount of candidates up for office and slowly roll back to an Islamic theocracy.
 
Read: nobody from the current non-Taliban government can come back to lead, and nobody who served in the Taliban government can either, but anybody in the Taliban leadership right now who wasn't in the government proper back then (and since it's been 15 years, that means a good amount of the current leadership) can serve in a new government. So Taliban gets over-represented just by the amount of candidates up for office and slowly roll back to an Islamic theocracy.

Did you miss the word Interim?
 

KillLaCam

Banned
That's actually not as bad as I expected. But there's never gonna be a withdrawal and they're not gonna redistribute land
 
Special courts should be established to oversee thousands of cases that allege land was taken illegally by the rich and powerful in the post-Taliban era. Many of the land owners are former warlords who are now in the government. The Taliban wants the land returned to those from whom it was taken.

this actually seems like a legitimate problem that should be resolved.
 

saelz8

Member
We've been in Afghanistan for what? 15+ years now?

And not only is the Taliban still around and apparently laying out plans for Afghanistan's future but they have fucking offices in other countries?



Is the Talban just so entrenched in everyday life there that there's no way to eventually withdraw from that country without them being involved in a leadership capacity afterwards?

Yes, they are. It's practically a Pashtun nationalist movement, taken to a religious extreme. Pashtun's are 50% of Afghanistan and 15% of Pakistan.There's no resolution in Afghanistan, without at least having some kind of dialogue with The Taliban.

Their support is almost entirely predicted by ethnicity.
 
Read: nobody from the current non-Taliban government can come back to lead, and nobody who served in the Taliban government can either, but anybody in the Taliban leadership right now who wasn't in the government proper back then (and since it's been 15 years, that means a good amount of the current leadership) can serve in a new government. So Taliban gets over-represented just by the amount of candidates up for office and slowly roll back to an Islamic theocracy.

Lol, "slowly."
 

MikeMyers

Member
Yes, they are. It's practically a Pashtun nationalist movement, taken to a religious extreme. Pashtun's are 50% of Afghanistan and 15% of Pakistan.There's no resolution in Afghanistan, without at least having some kind of dialogue with The Taliban.

Their support is almost entirely predicted by ethnicity.
Are the Taliban in Pakistan the same as the one in Afghanistan? We rarely ever hear about the former.
 

snap

Banned
Did you miss the word Interim?

An interim government that would have Taliban over-representation would be responsible for the elections for the permanent government. Should be obvious how that can go bad.

Are the Taliban in Pakistan the same as the one in Afghanistan? We rarely ever hear about the former.

Yes, afaik. Much of their supports comes from accross the border, which is why the US routinely runs drone strikes in Pakistan.
 
I'm honestly surprised they say they're willing to give rights to women, but barring them from the highest offices is still horribly unacceptable. I also don't fully believe them.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
The troops will never withdraw from Afghanistan and they wont "win" there either.
 

Grexeno

Member
— Women could be employed in all fields, including defense and the judiciary, and they could serve as judges at all levels except the Supreme Court. However, the Taliban wanted constitutional guarantees that a woman could not be president.

YxhCJAR.jpg
 
An interim government that would have Taliban over-representation would be responsible for the elections for the permanent government. Should be obvious how that can go bad.



Yes, afaik. Much of their supports comes from accross the border, which is why the US routinely runs drone strikes in Pakistan.

An interim setup is usually with neutral people who can conduct elections, that's up to the negotiators who they nominate as neutral people.
 

Weckum

Member
We've been in Afghanistan for what? 15+ years now?

And not only is the Taliban still around and apparently laying out plans for Afghanistan's future but they have fucking offices in other countries?



Is the Talban just so entrenched in everyday life there that there's no way to eventually withdraw from that country without them being involved in a leadership capacity afterwards?

Fun fact: before 2001 the Taliban visited the US on regular diplomatic trips.

And yes, they are part of daily life there.
 
The US has known for quite a few years that there'll be no solution to afghanistan without the involvement of the Taliban. Is just that aint no politician wants to come out and admit it. Vice even did a video on how the US military is quite goddamn aware that they're gonna have to work with those people eventually.

I did find it ironic that the taliban was the one that tried to curbstomp the problem of bacha bazi in the region, while the US sadly opted to take the "not muh fucken prob" route. Cuz hey, its just children being raped, is all.

Fun fact: before 2001 the Taliban visited the US on regular diplomatic trips.

And yes, they are part of daily life there.

Another fun fact: the US has never formally labeled the afghani Taliban as a terrorist group.

The pakistani taliban, however, is a different story.
 

Ogodei

Member
It's interesting how potentially reasonable the land/ownership demands are vs the men/women demands.

They all seem reasonable, tbh. Banning women from the highest office would be bullshit, but reasonable if it succeeded in stopping the violence long enough for a peaceful society to grow, and eventually they could abolish those articles.

The question is if the Taliban wouldn't use it to simply join the government/military and then take it all over in a coup.
 
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