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March 16th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Training local defence militias to protect their villages and roads against
the Taliban has been a central Nato strategy for more than a year, however.
Many British and American troops trying to secure the countryside are also
stationed in small rural bases where they work alongside Afghan forces.
Meanwhile the Taliban movement said it was immediately suspending its
political overtures in the Gulf state of Qatar, where it had planned to open
an office to further negotiations.
The suspension is likely to strengthen the position of hawks within the
insurgent movement and increase the likelihood of a renewed offensive this
spring.
Sources close to the talks said the Taliban had been upset at American delays
in releasing five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay – which
had been expected as a “confidence-building measure”.
They had also been angered by Washington’s insistence that the movement’s
representatives in their new Qatar office meet aides to Afghan president
Hamid Karzai.
The Americans, he said, had been reluctant to release the prisoners too early
in case it was encouraged the Taliban negotiators to increase their demands.
Washington had also been anxious not to act unilaterally and concerned to keep
Mr Karzai central in their talks, he said.
There are concerns that the Afghan president may have made a series of
statements calling for meetings with Taliban to undermine the talks process.
A statement issued by the Taliban blamed America’s “alternating and ever
changing position” for the collapse.
However the movement appeared to leave the door ajar to restarting the talks
at a later date – if its conditions were met.
Talks would remain halted “until the Americans clarify their stance on the
issues concerned and until they show willingness in carrying out their
promises instead of wasting time,” the statement said.
American officials have emphasised no decision has yet been made over the
request to transfer the detainees, either to house arrest or to more relaxed
Qatari jail.
The transfer of the senior figures, including Khairullah Khairkhwa, former
governor of Herat, and Mullah Mohammad Fazl, former head of the Taliban
army, was predicted to face stiff domestic opposition in America though.
The Taliban statement again rejected any possibility of talking directly with
Mr Karzai’s government, which the insurgents denounce as a puppet regime of
the Americans.
It said that until “the external dimension is settled which rests entirely in
the hands of the foreigners, discussing the internal dimension is
meaningless and is nothing more than a waste of time”.
Michael Semple, former deputy European Union representative in Kabul and a
leading expert on the Taliban, said the collapse of talks will strengthen
the hand of Taliban hardliners and result in more fighting.
“Within the Taliban leadership the decision to engage with the Americans
in Qatar was a controversial one. It was supported by the Taliban
pragmatists and opposed by the hawks. Unwittingly the US seems to have
played into the hands of the hawks by taking too long to deliver on the
confidence building measures that the Taliban were expecting,” he told The
Daily Telegraph.
“The pragmatists simply had little to show for the risk they took by
going to Qatar. This now creates a golden opportunity for the hawks to do
what they know best — go back to fighting,” he added.
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