NATO's New Afghan Strategy Underlines the Necessity of Talking to the Taliban

"We must talk to the Taliban. Unpalatable as it seems, recent developments have made it even clearer that the pros of setting up a political process in which some Taliban leaders take part outweigh the cons.

In May, the Obama administration replaced General David McKiernan with General Stanley McChrystal as NATO commander in Afghanistan. At the time, Defence Secretary Robert Gates explained the replacement as the need to get "fresh thinking, fresh eyes on the problem." That fresh thinking has begun; General McChrystal recently submitted his review to NATO leaders. The content is confidential, but we can get an impression of his new priorities from the directives he gave to troops.

At the heart of NATO's mission, General McChrystal argues, is a fight for the allegiance of the Afghan people. It is their allegiance which is key to the other priorities: protecting them from Taliban forces, building up the Afghan national forces, boosting the government's legitimacy, and improving the coordination of civilian aid.

More than the old priorities, success with these aims depends on the support, active or passive, of ordinary Afghan elders, men and women. But the same is true of the Afghan Taliban...."

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