Taliban Should Join Afghan Forces Says NATO's Brit General Barrons

NATO's Senior British Major General Richard Barrons has suggested that the Taliban must be allowed to join Afghan forces (police or army), if they make nice with the Afghan government. Is this man on crack? Or am I totally missing something here, because the idea is absolutely, categorically insane. That's all our men and women need in Afghanistan. It's hard enough for them- living under horrendous conditions in a barren, hostile land- but to actually have the enemy within their camp, not knowing which one might pull a gun and shoot you in the head is not an added pressure they need to deal with. The Taliban are not our friends, they are not to be reasoned with. They are insane, religious fanatics who, when push come to shove, are going to chose Mohammad and Allah over some crusading infidel, and the sooner our leaders (both military and political) come to terms with that perhaps something might get accomplished in that God-forsaken land.

It's not like infiltration hasn't happened before.

In two separate incidents last week, a Taliban bomber wearing a military uniform and a suicide vest entered a base in Khost and blew himself up inside the gym, killing eight Americans thought to be CIA officers, and an Afghan soldier killed a member of the US forces and wounded two Italian soldiers when he opened fire at an army base in western Afghanistan. In November, a rogue Afghan policeman shot dead five British soldiers while serving alongside them.

Fighting alongside people when you have no clue whether they're friend or foe is not a good idea, no matter how great the general thinks it might be. He is also talking about making sure the Taliban are given senior positions in Hamid Karzai's government. Well, isn't that just peachy. First it's a few, then a few more and eventually they take over the Afghan government because like the idiots in Gaza who voted for Hamas, the people will vote in the Taliban- even if it's out of fear and intimidation. Or they'll just co-opt the government through a coup, because there is no democracy under extremist rule.

And Nato is apparently willing to spend a bunch of money on these Taliban soon-to-be Afghan soldiers and police officers.

He spoke as the coalition prepares to spend millions of pounds on jobs and training for Taliban footsoldiers if they agree to lay down their arms. The schemes is designed complement Barack Obama's 30,000-strong troop reinforcement surge, which begins in earnest in the New Year.

Okay, so let me get this straight, they're supposed to lay down their arms, which will then be replaced with NATO-approved arms? Great, so now the Taliban parading around as NATO troops will have more targets to choose from. It'll be far easier to massacre the 30,000 new U.S. troops that are about to enter the fray. How about adding more NATO troops from other countries, so they can get massacred too? They'll be like sitting ducks.

For some reason Barrons thinks NATO can negotiate with the Taliban and that the fight is not ideological but more a lack of prospects.

The general said this year's push led by the senior Nato and US commander, Gen Stanley McChrystal, would include Afghan-led efforts to persuade Taliban to give up their fight.

Eight years on, coalition commanders have accepted that military might alone will not end the increasingly bloody insurgency. They do however, believe the majority of fighters are open to negotiation if they can be given an alternative.

Gen Barrons, who discusses previous insurgencies with a scholarly air, said most Taliban were motivated not by entrenched ideology but by lack of money and jobs, local grievances, or a sense of injustice at government corruption.

I hate to disillusion him but it's mostly about ideology. I'm sure lack of money and jobs probably doesn't help the situation, but bottom line is they want Afghanistan to revert back to Taliban governance. And that's exactly what will happen if they are allowed to reintegrate into Afghan society. When are they going to open their eyes and realize that? In the meantime, if they do integrate Taliban fighters into Afghan forces, we can expect a lot more tragedies like we have seen recently.