Britain in secret talks with the Taliban

Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | December 26, 2007 | Thomas Harding and Tom Coghlan

[HAL9000]

Agents from MI6 entered secret talks with Taliban leaders despite Gordon Brown's pledge that Britain would not negotiate with terrorists, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Officers from the Secret Intelligence Service staged discussions, known as "jirgas", with senior insurgents on several occasions over the summer.

An intelligence source said: "The SIS officers were understood to have sought peace directly with the Taliban with them coming across as some sort of armed militia. The British would also provide 'mentoring' for the Taliban."

The disclosure comes only a fortnight after the Prime Minister told the House of Commons: "We will not enter into any negotiations with these people."

~ snip ~

[fieldmarshaldj]

"The British would also provide 'mentoring' for the Taliban."

Um... WTF ?!?

[ScaniaBoy]

British official arrested in Afghanistan

[The Duke]

There should always be at least enough communication between parties as to allow for an unconditional surrender. Being “in talks” does, itself, not qualify as negotiations I would say.

[Nextrush]

Something smelly going on over in those parts.

I’d say clean out the nests in Pakistan to make “peace” in the area.

But the powers that be don’t want to do that.

We get this instead.

President Lyndon Johnson tried this stuff of bombing and fighting to force negotiations somewhere 40 years ago. Need I remind anyone where that was.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Agent Dhimmi-07 at your service!

[Grimmy]

Much respect for the UK’s Tommies but their politicos and top military leadership has shown a proclivity to try to “softly softly catchee monkee” themselves into surrendering whatever gains their soldiers have bleed to gain.

We and them have had folk fighting and bleeding for an area formerly controlled by the UK forces in Afghanistan but given away by their leadership to become a fortified haven for Taliban.

Get a signature on a scrap of paper with a promise by the enemy to play nice, then the Brits can walk away.

[Kakaze]

These meetings were with up to a dozen Taliban or with Taliban who had only recently laid down their arms," an intelligence source said. "The impression was that these were important motivating figures inside the Taliban."

The only taliban, that have laid down their arms ..are dead taliban.

First brown sneaks off in the night to sign the european constitution and now this. one has to wonder, just who brown will surrender to next.

[athelass]

The politicians do what they do...
and the Marines do what they do

[tongue-tied]

And there are still ongoing questions for these guys, who are some fairly senior people in the UN.

Urgent Talks on Afghan Expulsions

From the linked article: One is a high-ranking UN employee, Briton Mervyn Patterson, the other is acting head of the EU mission in Afghanistan, Irishman Michael Semple.

Just more stench from the UN. The new "Money for Poppies" program?

[tips up]

Remember these are “secret talks”. Don’t tell anyone...

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

The decision to declare the men persona non grata appears to have come from the office of the president, he says.

At the direction of the CIA, perhaps?

[tongue-tied]

Sounds like the UN was cutting into CIA profits.

[DGHoodini]

And if the Pakistani tribes, tired of war, had their jirgas cut a deal to turn on the Al Quaeda foriegners, and give over intelligence on Bin Laden and Zawahiri?...would it then still be a bad thing?

[LZ_Bayonet]

“MSM REMINDER”!! - This a a MSM report: This is not the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth.

[RDTF]

front page news?

[Cindy]

If it’s a “secret” it shouldn’t be news, it shouldn’t be frontpage news and I shouldn’t be reading it and I shouldn’t know about.

That’s what I feel when I read articles discussing “secret,” “top secret” and “classifed” material.

[RDTF]

so true

[ViLaLuz]

It’s all about the drug money. Period.