German Defense Minister Jung Rejects Negotiations With Taliban

Hey, how about lifting those restrictions on the German military operating in Afghanistan that basically reduces them to observers? Germans are good warriors and it's a shame that their skills aren't being utilized against the taliban. Bloomberg

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung rejected attempts to negotiate with elements of the Islamist Taliban movement in Afghanistan, rebuffing NATO allies who have sought to draw out cooperative elements in the group.

President Barack Obama’s plan to send 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan includes a strategy to exploit fractures within the Taliban, though he rejects talks with the movement’s Afghan leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Jung said he draws no distinction between groups that promote terror and it’s up to the Afghan government to lure in those who swear off violence.

“From my perspective there’s no differentiation,” Jung, a Christian Democrat, told a group of foreign journalists today in Berlin. “When I was just in Afghanistan, we spoke with many tribal chiefs who said ‘Taliban is Taliban’.”

Very true. What would the difference be between a hardcore taliban and a moderate? Smaller knives for beheadings, maybe a few less lashes for whatever, women don't need to look through those mesh things etc...