Obama talks about Afghanistan, Taliban

[unhappycamper]

Obama talks about Afghanistan, Taliban
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 7, 2009 17:49:10 EST

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is holding out hope that U.S. forces in Afghanistan can peel away elements of the Taliban and possibly move them toward reconciliation.

There may be such opportunities, but the situation in Afghanistan is more complicated than the challenges the American military faced in Iraq, Obama said in an interview with The New York Times posted Saturday on the newspaper’s Web site.

U.S. troops were able to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents in Iraq to cooperate in some instances because they had been alienated by the tactics of al-Qaida terrorists.

Obama cautioned that Afghanistan is a less-governed region with a history of fierce independence among tribes, creating a tough set of circumstances for the United States to deal with.

The idea of cooperation with some in the Taliban has been talked about for many months by American military commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_obama_taliban_030709/%2e