Karzai might call a Grand Assembly with the Tal...

Karzai might call a Grand Assembly with the Taliban participating.

This "Grand Jirga"as it is called can actually amend the constitution so if a deal were struck to share power with the Taliban the constitution could be amended to make this legal. However the Taliban have always insisted on foreign troop withdrawal before they would negotiate anything of this nature. The US and NATO have tried to woo some of the Taliban away from the main group and reward them for supporting the Karzai government but this has so far had very limited success. Possibly the Taliban might participate if the negotiations involved a time table for foreign troop withdrawal but that is about the most that Karzai can expect I believe. But who knows for sure!

These excerpts are from antiwar.com.

Spokesman: Karzai Could Call ‘Grand Jirga' with Taliban
Massive Assembly Would Aim for Reconciliation
by Jason Ditz,

With his inauguration into his second term in office safely on the books, Afghan President Hamid KarzaiAfghan President Hamid Karzai appears to be looking forward to tackling his promise of attempting reconciliation with the Taliban, and spokesmen say he is mulling calling a "Loya Jirga."

The Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, is the largest theoretical tribal meeting Pashtun groups can hold, and the Taliban leadership would be invited to participate in this one.

Though unlikely, this could have enormous potential ramifications, as under the Afghan constitution a Loya Jirga is empowered to amend the constitution as well as make decisions in the national interest, suggesting that the Taliban could come out of such a deal with some formal power-sharing arrangement.

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Credibility

Posted By

Shirley66 | 2 months ago

Would there be any good in joining the taliban in power sharing?

Reply By

Like Comment | 2 months ago

There are two ironies regarding the Taliban rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

"Ironically, under the strict religious Taliban, the growth of poppies and the trade in heroin became almost extinct. However, the invasion of Afghanistan by NATO, lead by the USA and Britain in 2001, saw a massive resurgence in heroin trafficking. This is obviously a main source of cash for the Taliban to fund their war and purchase weaponry.
Today 92% of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan, and huge amounts reach back to the USA and Europe".
http://jsmithnews.blogspot.com/2009/07/afghanistan-raped-by-history.html

http://www.natgeoprogramming.com/film/1179/inside-afghan-heroin

The second irony is that even though the Taliban are considered religious extremists, the country had one of the most stable periods in it's war-torn history under Taliban rule from '96-2001.The Taliban simply has to be included for the sake of peace and stability. Otherwise they will simply keep fighting forever. Do not forget that the Russians with 500 000 troops could not conquer Afghanistan over 10 years.

Power sharing talks is the only way to get everybody together and stop the horrible war. It worked in countries like South Africa, Mozambique and Angola. It is currently implemented in Zimbabwe.

Posted By

northsunm32 | 2 months ago

Well the good in the Taliban sharing power is that the civil war would probably end and foreign troops would withdraw. Of course the arrangement could always break down but perhaps all sides would be happy to have a few years of peace and stability!

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