Buddy Up

The Christian Science Monitor discusses possibilities of US interaction with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Although the McCain campaign has derided Obama’s plan to extend cooperation with them, some concede that this is a viable option, including General Petraeus. While CSM thinks that inclusion isn’t a bad idea, “the threshold set for Taliban leaders to be folded into a new regime should be high” and must “swear allegiance to a democratic Constitution.” By taking these steps the Taliban could be forced into moderation because it “knows it is not popular with the masses and may want to use elections, rather than guns, to win back support for their views of running an Islamic society.”

Dexter Filkins also fields questions about the Taliban, Afghanistan and Pakistan in a recent interview with Foreign Policy.