Clinton backs talks with moderate Taliban

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday endorsed Afghan plans to hold reconciliation talks with moderate Taliban members. “We must support efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks, not out of conviction but out of desperation,” Clinton said in an address laying out the new U.S. strategy for the region that President Obama announced last week

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Talking with the Taliban: Obama Idea Draws Skepticism

Seeking alliances with more moderate Taliban elements against al-Qaeda is not a new idea in the Afghanistan-Pakistan context, but until now it is one that has typically drawn a skeptical response — from U.S. officials who have regularly cast doubt on the wisdom of Pakistan pursuing such agreements

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Gates calls Pakistan ‘most worrisome’

The "most worrisome" part of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan has become the havens the Taliban and other insurgents have carved out in neighboring Pakistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Gates said the United States had a similar perch in Pakistan when U.S.

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Karzai courts controversy by changing date for Afghan vote

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai issued a decree on Saturday that sets an earlier date for the country’s presidential election, a move that could spark a constitutional crisis. The decree counters a decision by Afghanistan’s election commission to hold the election August 20.

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Afghanistan to help review U.S. war on terror

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his country would join the strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Karzai said he is “very, very thankful” that President Barack Obama accepted his proposal to join the review

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