The Office of Foreign Assets Control plans to withdraw the Taliban Sanctions Regulations issued under former President Bill Clinton, which banned all financial transactions with members of Taliban and placed an embargo on trade with areas of Afghanistan they controlled....Nice, benign spin, but here's the real deal: The 2012 Presidential campaign has already started, which means Obama needs an exit strategy in Afghanistan to mollify his base, even if it means striking a deal with the Devil and consequently delivering a severe blow to the future of Afghanistan.
The agency says it is withdrawing the regulations because they were made redundant by the fall of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and subsequent executive orders which more narrowly targeted individual members of the Taliban...
Here's the real deal!:
Britain and the United States are pressing for United Nations sanctions against 18 former senior Taliban figures to be lifted later this month in the strongest indication yet that the western powers are looking for a negotiated peace with the Taliban.Perhaps this partially explains why the President's job approval ratings are back to were they were prior to the raid on Bin Laden's compound. This is a President, after all, who has an affinity for coddling the enemy.
Candidates include the controversial former head of the regime's religious police, Mohammed Qalamuddin, whose officers were responsible for some of the worst atrocities under the Taliban regime.
Officials believe the move would send a clear signal to insurgents that reintegrating into Afghan society is possible if they put down their arms.
The sanctions were imposed in 1999, when the Taliban were in power, and were expanded after the 9/11 attacks on America. They ban about 140 individuals from traveling or holding bank accounts. Removing the restrictions has been a key demand of insurgents in Afghanistan...
The removal of men like Qalamuddin is likely to be controversial. Patrols run by the religious police chief beat women and men in the street to enforce the Taliban's rigorous interpretation of Islam...
It was recently disclosed that US officials and a Taliban representative have held three meetings in the last two months, two in Qatar and one in Germany...
Sadly, when a US President presses the [rogue infested] UN to lift sanctions against the bad guys, you know we're really hitting rock bottom.
Sigh.....
Related Posts: Will the President's decision to engage in direct talks with senior Afghan Taliban leaders provoke another Muslim uprising - in Afghanistan?
Why is US troop morale at a 5-year low?
2 comments:
Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks to end the seven-year conflict in that country. White House spokesman Dana Perino said Tuesday talks with Taliban elements are currently being considered in Washington.
http://articles.cnn.com/2008-10-28/world/jirga_1_peace-jirga-afghan-troops-taliban?_s=PM:WORLD
Response to the previous comment:
"Western powers are looking for a negotiated peace with the Taliban. Candidates include the controversial former head of the regime's religious police, Mohammed Qalamuddin, whose officers were responsible for some of the worst atrocities under the Taliban regime....." - End of story....
Nothing more than a desperate attempt to seek an exit strategy before the 2012 election, regardless of the perilous outcome and how it will effect the Afghan people, US interests, and US security.
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