'Peace with Honor' in Afghanistan

Cal Thomas | Syndicated Columnist | Updated: Oct 20, 2010

'Peace with Honor' in Afghanistan

October 18, 2010

NATO and U.S. forces reportedly are helping leaders of the Taliban in Afghanistan sit down for talks with the government. It is supposed to be a step toward political reconciliation with the insurgency.

There are two ways to look at this. One is that the Taliban have been worn down after a decade of fighting and want to stop. I don't believe that for a minute. The other is that the Taliban see negotiations with the U.S. as a means to the same end for which they have been fighting: re-taking the country and imposing sharia law once again. That is a more likely scenario.

The danger is that the U.S. and NATO, weary of the fighting and the cost in money and lives, is looking for a way out. "Peace with honor" we called it before pulling out of Vietnam.

Vietnam is at peace, though still a communist state with certain capitalist elements. Afghanistan under the Taliban was and would be again a center for terrorist activity against Israel and the West. We can't afford to let that happen or we will pay dearly…again.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

'Peace with Honor' in Afghanistan