Time for a Cease-Fire in Afghanistan

Jump to Last Post 1-3 of 3 discussions (5 posts)
  1. Ralph Deeds profile image66
    Ralph Deedsposted 13 years ago

    The U.S. is belatedly supporting Hamid Karzai's peace talks with the Taliban. For several years there have been contacts between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Saudi Aribia, the UAR, with support from Britain and France. The current acceleration of the talks is a hopeful sign because a cease fire would enable the U.S. to begin troop withdrawals next year in accordance with President' Obama's stated goal. General Petraeus declared "This is how you end these kinds of insurgencies."

    According to recent reports in the media virtually every faction of the Taliban insurgency is involved in the discussions. The elements of a cease fire agreement might include the following:

    A timeline for U.S. withdrawal.

    A share in the Afghanistan government for the Taliban.

    Taliban agreement to break all ties with Al Qaida.

    United Nations and international support for the agreement, especially by Pakistan, India, Iran, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and the Central Asian Republics.

    Big obstacles to peace remain--

    U.S. military action and constant drone attacks;

    Karzai's corrupt government is a weak partner who may not be able to deliver on commitments. He has lost credibility with much of the public in Afghanistan.

    If Pakistan doesn't support the talks, they will fail.

    [Based on an editorial from The Nation, November 15, 2010 and other published sources.]

  2. earnestshub profile image73
    earnestshubposted 13 years ago

    I am hopeful this comes to something. It is high time we got out of this quagmire.
    There will be plenty of work to do at home helping the traumatized soldiers to have a life without the usual wife bashing and anti-social behavior that is the call sign of returning soldiers everywhere.

    No young man (boys a lot of them) should be bastardized by war, yet so many are.

  3. rebekahELLE profile image87
    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    I just read in my local paper this morning that the 21 year old son of a family I know lost both of his legs. I can't imagine receiving that phone call and seeing two Marine officers appear at your door. he was on his last deployment which would have ended in March serving 4 years.
    what does it take, how long??

    His mission Friday morning: travel among an eight-truck convoy through the desert's embattled roads, clearing the way for patrols. As lead sweeper, Gaertner took point — if anyone saw action, it would be him.

    Suddenly, the third truck in line triggered an explosion, likely set off by a pressure plate buried beneath the sand. The convoy stopped. As the dust settled, several Marines, including Gaertner, rushed to assess the damage.

    The second bomb blew. Triggered remotely, it caught the Marines by surprise. Gaertner's legs, and those of a friend he had met at Camp Pendleton, were blown to pieces. A third Marine was killed.

    1. manlypoetryman profile image82
      manlypoetrymanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Tragic. My Heart goes out to the Marines and the family/friends of this incident. There are no words that comfort a family or someone for the loss of limbs...and life. There can only be a rally of support for ALL...through all that they will go through. Thank you to them for serving a Nation at the greatest of price.

      1. rebekahELLE profile image87
        rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        thanks MPM. it has definitely saddened my day. I met Justin a few times when he was on leave. He was and probably still is proud to be a Marine. I was his youngest sister's teacher and saw the mom or dad daily when they picked up their daughter. My heart goes out to all the families affected. here's a link to the article. http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninter … 137361.ece


        dedicated to those who sacrifice daily for you and me.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)