Canada Reaches Out to Taliban

Ottawa still has not formally decided how, or whether, to get officially involved with Taliban talks. United Nations resolutions require Canada and other countries to avoid supporting terrorist groups, including the Taliban, but the resolutions do not forbid talking with those groups, and other countries have already cut deals with individual Taliban figures to bring them over to the government side.

The Dutch also encourage negotiation. Although the Dutch are reluctant to go into details, negotiating with the Taliban is an explicit part of Dutch military policy in Afghanistan. Talks are usually held through the provincial governor. Last year, the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar approved demands for negotiations, including control of 10 southern provinces, a timetable for withdrawal of all foreign troops, and the release of all Taliban prisoners in six months. Not all the fighters are on board, however, with some saying they’ll never negotiate.

Canadian troops are reaching out to the Taliban for the first time, military and diplomatic officials say, as Canada softens its ban on speaking with the insurgents.

After years of rejecting any contact with the insurgents, Canadian officials say those involved with the mission are now rethinking the policy in hopes of helping peace efforts led by the Afghan government.

The Canadian work on political solutions follows two separate tracks: tactical discussions at a local level in Kandahar, and strategic talks through the Kabul government and its allies. Neither type of negotiation appears to have made progress so far, though efforts are still in the early stages.

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Born and raised very humbly in a “small town” in southern California, I was a product of different worlds. Literally, part of my family descends from Mexico the rest from Portugal and Uruguay. This mixture had kept me from supporting any racist psyche found...