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[Annie]

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/ap/2006/10/02/asia/AS_GEN_Afghanistan_Frist.php

U.S. Senate majority leader calls for efforts to bring Taliban into Afghan government
The Associated Press
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006
QALAT, Afghanistan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan guerrilla war can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Taliban and their supporters into the Afghan government.

The Tennessee Republican said he had learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated by military means.

"You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished we'll be successful."

Frist said asking the Taliban to join the government was a decision to be made by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida accompanying Frist, said negotiating with the Taliban was not "out of the question" but that fighters who refused to join the political process would have to be defeated.

"A political solution is how it's all going to be solved," he said....

http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/10/the_american_way_of_not_winnin.php

CORRECTION: Senator Frist Says Taliban Remarks Story a Distortion
PJM in Seattle
October 2, 2006 3:20 PM


This item originally titled: “The American Way of (Not Winning) War.” It read:

“QALAT, Afghanistan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan guerrilla war can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Taliban and their supporters into the Afghan government.” (IHT Link to Original Story)

UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says the IHT Story Quoted Above Utterly distorts his remarks. In the comments to this post he links to a statement on his blog that reads, in its entirety:

I’m currently overseas visiting our troops in Afghanistan, but I wanted to take a moment to address an Associated Press story titled, “Frist: Taliban Should Be in Afghan Gov’t.” The story badly distorts my remarks and takes them out of context.

First of all, let me make something clear: The Taliban is a murderous band of terrorists who’ve oppressed the people of Afghanistan with their hateful ideology long enough. America’s overthrow of the Taliban and support for responsible, democratic governance in Afghanistan is a great accomplishment that should not and will not be reversed.

Having discussed the situation with commanders on the ground, I believe that we cannot stabilize Afghanistan purely through military means. Our counter-insurgency strategy must win hearts and minds and persuade moderate Islamists potentially sympathetic to the Taliban to accept the legitimacy of the Afghan national government and democratic political processes.

National reconciliation is a necessary and an urgent priority … but America will never negotiate with terrorists or support their entry into Afghanistan’s government.​

One of the noteworthy things here was that the original quote on PJM was posted at 3:20PM PST. The comment with Frist’s denial of the story’s slant was registered here just a little over 20 minutes later at 3:42PM PST. Impressive staff work that moves at the speed of the Net.