Talking to terrorists is the only way to defeat them

Talking to the Taliban is tough for many Americans to accept. Dick Cheney was speaking for many when he said, “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.” And yet, says Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, he’s dead wrong. In a new book, “Terrorists at the Table: Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace,” Powell argues forcefully that historically, conflicts like the one in Afghanistan have ended only through negotiations and not military victory. Powell is no peacenik, having been an architect of Britain’s support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nor is he soft on terrorism. His father, a military man, was wounded by the Irish Republican Army. His brother was on that group’s death list for eight years . When he first met Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, Powell refused to shake his hand.

But over the course of his decade as Blair’s most important aide, Powell came to recognize that terrorism cannot be solved exclusively or largely by military means. He quotes Hugh Orde, the former chief constable in Northern Ireland, who rightly says: There is “no example that I know of, of terrorism being policed out” or eliminated through the use of force.

confuzzled dude wrote:

Talking to the Taliban is tough for many Americans to accept. Dick Cheney was speaking for many when he said, “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.” And yet, says Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, he’s dead wrong. In a new book, “Terrorists at the Table: Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace,” Powell argues forcefully that historically, conflicts like the one in Afghanistan have ended only through negotiations and not military victory. Powell is no peacenik, having been an architect of Britain’s support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nor is he soft on terrorism. His father, a military man, was wounded by the Irish Republican Army. His brother was on that group’s death list for eight years . When he first met Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, Powell refused to shake his hand.

But over the course of his decade as Blair’s most important aide, Powell came to recognize that terrorism cannot be solved exclusively or largely by military means. He quotes Hugh Orde, the former chief constable in Northern Ireland, who rightly says: There is “no example that I know of, of terrorism being policed out” or eliminated through the use of force.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-talking-to-terrorists-is-the-only-way-to-defeat-them/2015/07/09/c94a83c8-266f-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html

brie wrote:why cd, there are scores of examples where stamping out terrorism worked (notwithstanding the fact that zakaria's article citing a figure like powell makes for a seductive read). 

off the top of my head -- khalistan; saddam hussein, ltte.

now i am confused because i enjoyed reading the blog and agreed with it's contents when i read it earlier today. what you think?

confuzzled dude wrote:

brie wrote:why cd, there are scores of examples where stamping out terrorism worked (notwithstanding the fact that zakaria's article citing a figure like powell makes for a seductive read). 

off the top of my head -- khalistan; saddam hussein, ltte.

now i am confused because i enjoyed reading the blog and agreed with it's contents when i read it earlier today. what you think?

Saddam was not a terrorist, he was a dictator. Other two were internal conflicts that were handled internally.

confuzzled dude wrote:

Talking to the Taliban is tough for many Americans to accept. Dick Cheney was speaking for many when he said, “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.” And yet, says Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, he’s dead wrong. In a new book, “Terrorists at the Table: Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace,” Powell argues forcefully that historically, conflicts like the one in Afghanistan have ended only through negotiations and not military victory. Powell is no peacenik, having been an architect of Britain’s support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nor is he soft on terrorism. His father, a military man, was wounded by the Irish Republican Army. His brother was on that group’s death list for eight years . When he first met Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, Powell refused to shake his hand.

But over the course of his decade as Blair’s most important aide, Powell came to recognize that terrorism cannot be solved exclusively or largely by military means. He quotes Hugh Orde, the former chief constable in Northern Ireland, who rightly says: There is “no example that I know of, of terrorism being policed out” or eliminated through the use of force.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-talking-to-terrorists-is-the-only-way-to-defeat-them/2015/07/09/c94a83c8-266f-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html

southindian wrote:

confuzzled dude wrote:

Talking to the Taliban is tough for many Americans to accept. Dick Cheney was speaking for many when he said, “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.” And yet, says Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, he’s dead wrong. In a new book, “Terrorists at the Table: Why Negotiating is the Only Way to Peace,” Powell argues forcefully that historically, conflicts like the one in Afghanistan have ended only through negotiations and not military victory. Powell is no peacenik, having been an architect of Britain’s support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nor is he soft on terrorism. His father, a military man, was wounded by the Irish Republican Army. His brother was on that group’s death list for eight years . When he first met Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, Powell refused to shake his hand.

But over the course of his decade as Blair’s most important aide, Powell came to recognize that terrorism cannot be solved exclusively or largely by military means. He quotes Hugh Orde, the former chief constable in Northern Ireland, who rightly says: There is “no example that I know of, of terrorism being policed out” or eliminated through the use of force.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-talking-to-terrorists-is-the-only-way-to-defeat-them/2015/07/09/c94a83c8-266f-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html

LOL! Yeah right!

I volunteer you to heartlands of ISIS territory for a round of talks with ISIS terrorists.

I'll be waiting to watch news, youtube for an orange jumpsuit guy video and a razor on throat.

Hmmm.... could also be a man on fire in a cage

....maybe something new.

We'll see...

Please proceed and Good luck.