Afghanistan: seventeen years too late

Now they are finally negotiating the very same deal with the Taliban that could probably have been made in 2001. It would have saved a lot of time.

'The Taliban have committed, to our satisfaction, to do what is necessary that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individuals,' said Zalmay Khalilzad, left, the U.S. official in charge of Afghanistan peace talks, on Jan. 29. So why didn’t the United States have this discussion with the Taliban 17 years ago, in October 2001, writes Gwynne Dyer. Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

February 4, 2019

LONDON, U.K.—“The Taliban have committed, to our satisfaction, to do what is necessary that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individuals,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. official in charge of Afghanistan peace talks, on Jan. 29. So ...

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