<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">This is a good cause and long overdue. Pls forward widely.<div> --Jenifer<br><br>--- On <b>Tue, 2/2/10, Just Foreign Policy <i><info@justforeignpolicy.org></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br><br><div id="yiv1413759492">
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<div style="border-bottom:8px solid rgb(68, 68, 68);padding:12px;"><p>Dear Jenifer,</p>
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<p style="margin-top:0em;"><b>Write to President Obama and urge him to support talks with senior Afghan Taliban leaders</b></p>
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<p style="margin-top:0em;">Recent press reports in the New York Times [1] and Inter Press Service [2] indicate that the Obama Administration is having an internal debate on whether to supports talks with senior Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Muhammad Omar, as a means of ending the war in Afghanistan. Senior officials like Vice President Biden are said to be more open to reaching out, the Times reports, because they believe it will help shorten the war. <br>
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<b>Would you write to President Obama and urge him to support talks with senior Afghan Taliban leaders? </b> <br>
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<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=NX1zAMZtnTiZB0IH4J9Ty8z8%2FpHeNO2t">http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/peacetalks</a> <br>
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"Today, people agree that part of the solution for Afghanistan is going to include an accommodation with the Taliban, even above low- and middle-level fighters," an administration official told the New York Times. [3] <br>
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Gareth Porter, writing for Inter Press Service, reports that an official of the Western military coalition says there has been a debate among U.S. officials about "the terms on which the Taliban will become part of the political fabric." The debate is not on whether the Taliban movement will be participating in the Afghan political system, however, but on whether or not the administration could accept the participation of Mullah Omar in the political future of Afghanistan, Porter reports. [4] <br>
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The Taliban has insisted in published statements that it will not participate in peace talks that would not result in the withdrawal of foreign troops, Porter notes. That raises the question of whether the administration would be willing to discuss the complete withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops from Afghanistan as part of a settlement. [5] <br>
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The Obama Administration has stated publicly that it has no long-term interest in maintaining troops in Afghanistan. Therefore, the U.S. should be willing to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of a peace agreement. <br>
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<b>Would you join us in urging President Obama to support talks with senior Afghan Taliban leaders, and in urging President Obama to support a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces as part of a peace agreement?</b> You can write to President Obama now by following the link below: <br>
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Thank you for all you do to help bring about a just foreign policy, <br>
<br>
Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns, Megan Iorio and Chelsea Mozen<br>
Just Foreign Policy <br>
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References: <br>
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1. "U.S. Wrestling With Olive Branch for Taliban," Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, New York Times, January 27, 2010<br>
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2. "Behind Cautious Signal, a Decision for Afghan Peace Talks," Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service, January 26, 2010<br>
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3. "U.S. Wrestling With Olive Branch for Taliban," Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, New York Times, January 27, 2010 <br>
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4. "Behind Cautious Signal, a Decision for Afghan Peace Talks," Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service, January 26, 2010<br>
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5. "Behind Cautious Signal, a Decision for Afghan Peace Talks," Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service, January 26, 2010<br>
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