We will talk to the Taliban, Obama says
Barack Obama admits coalition is losing war in Afghanistan and says talking to Taliban may be only way to prevent defeat
Also In The News
|
The United States will emerge "stronger and more prosperous" than ever before, Barack Obama has insisted in a rallying call against the deepening economic gloom. |  |
Sunday, 08, Mar 2009 01:06
Barack Obama has admitted the coalition is losing the war in Afghanistan and that opening channels with moderate elements of the Taliban may be the only way to prevent defeat.
The United States president, who will deploy 17,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by August, said that the improved security situation in Iraq had come about after convincing Sunni Muslim militias to renounce al-Qaida and work with US forces.
And in an interview with the New York Times onboard Air Force One, Mr Obama said a similar tactic may be the only way forward in Afghanistan.
"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," he said, adding that talks with breakaway Taliban factions "should be explored".
Mr Obama, who when asked whether the US was winning the war in Afghanistan replied "no", said General David Petraeus, the head of US central command, had also come to the same conclusion.
"If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaida in Iraq," President Obama said.
"The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex.
"You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, and so figuring all that out is going to be much more of a challenge."