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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPrisoner Trade Yields Rare View Into the Taliban
Last edited Mon Jun 2, 2014, 01:15 PM - Edit history (2)
Source: NYTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/world/asia/soldier-prisoner-trade-for-five-taliban-figures-offers-rare-view.html?ref=politics&_r=0
KABUL, Afghanistan The freeing of five senior Taliban figures in exchange for the American soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, has offered both a rare insight into the insurgent groups inner workings and a diplomatic first in the long Afghan war: a negotiated agreement between the highest levels of the American government and the pinnacle of the Taliban command.
Representatives of both sides played down the idea that the exchange, long seen as a crucial prelude to any broader talks, might breathe new life into the effort to engage the Taliban in a peace effort. But the complex swap showed each side that the other can deliver, said one senior American official close to the effort. And it gave both the Taliban leadership and the Obama administration important political symbols.
For the Taliban, the delivery of five of its most prominent figures to freedom in Qatar was the culmination of years of effort to secure the mens release and to receive legitimacy on an international stage. And it seemingly answered questions about whether the groups reclusive leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, was still in charge of its disparate factions, demonstrating that there was a span in control that went through the representatives in Doha, to the Taliban command, and to the individuals who were holding him, presumably somewhere in Pakistan, the American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss Sergeant Bergdahls release.
For the Obama administration, too, the exchange was an important achievement: the prospect of Sergeant Bergdahls return to his family in Idaho after nearly five years as a hostage of the Taliban struck a humanitarian and emotional note for an administration trying to wind down the war.
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dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Reduce to 4 paras.
See :
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abakan
(1,819 posts)I was trying to add a portion with a link to the whole article, but since the NYT is a subscription service, I knew some would not be able to read it. So I did what I thought was the next best thing. I provided a source and credit lines at the bottom of the page. How do I post from things I have subscriptions to without having this problem?
OregonBlue
(7,755 posts)allows several free articles per month.
abakan
(1,819 posts)OregonBlue
(7,755 posts)provide the link. You don't want DU to be sued for copyright infringement do you?
abakan
(1,819 posts)I made a newbie mistake...Let it go..
bemildred
(90,061 posts)It will be interesting when these guys start to talk about their experiences in Gitmo.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)to have them back?
Maybe they also are human, and see we arrested two of them when they reached out to help the new power in their country.
Chathamization
(1,638 posts)One of the important parts of the trade which doesn't get enough attention (but which your article talks about) is that it's a good for the US to try to be on better terms with the Taliban when we leave.