The Taliban is going to open an office... in Qatar

Now this is something that has had #TNREgirl up in arms; is she justified? The Taliban have backed a Western proposal to … open an office in Qatar? 

Traditional wisdom has the Taliban as a loosely Afghan militant group that began when Mullah Mohammed Omar, a preacher, gathered 30 of his students and attacked a local militia camp that had abducted and raped two girls. Somewhere between the hanging of the camp’s governor from the barrel of a tank and attracting a USD 10,000,000 (yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's 10 million dollars)  reward from the U.S State Department, he has also served as the self-styed Commander of the Faithful of the rather short-lived Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. 

The Taliban say they have reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office, possibly in Qatar, as part of Western plans to end the war. Both the US and Germany have been pushing for such a representation in an effort to kick-start negotiations. This has been touted by some as a key step towards ending the 10-year-long conflict in Afghanistan. The move was welcomed by the Afghan High Peace Council, which is seeking a negotiated end to the war, as "a gesture of good faith”.

The Taliban continue to uphold their claim to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and maintain their assertion that the war in Afghanistan is between the lawful government, and the US and its foreign allies.

Amongst a few potential pitfalls for the newly-announced plan include the Taliban’s failure to mention the current Hamid Karzai-led government of Afghanistan, a reflection of what many observers, including yours truly, say is symptomatic of a worrying inability to co-exist.

Opposition will certainly exist from some within the group's leadership to conduct negotiations with representatives from countries who are killing Taliban soldiers and commanders. Furthermore, the Taliban could be reluctant to negotiate when they know that foreign troops will be leaving in 2014.

That being said, the Taliban isn’t one to be seen putting down arms; far from it. An hour ago, Taliban guerrillas executed 15 kidnapped members of a Pakistan paramilitary force in a major blow to both Pakistani and multinational efforts to open negotiations. This unfortunate event has had detractors [of the negotiations] issue vehement calls to intensify the ‘war-on-terror’. 

Those in favour of a diplomatic solution have always been around. Now, the question is, will their call be heeded?

“The Taliban per se is not our enemy”

-Vice-President of the United States of America, Joesph Biden