
It would be impractical and disingenuous to correlate the US decision to talk to the Taliban with the idea that the Pakistani state should talk to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The US’s main goal in Afghanistan was to eradicate al Qaeda and hunt Osama Bin Laden. Though the former has not been fully achieved, the death of Bin Laden meant that a key goal of the US in Afghanistan has been met. Therefore, it makes sense for it to engage with the Taliban and help ensure a steady government. Additionally, the Taliban have stated their desire for a political solution to Afghanistan and have decried the use of the country’s soil for “threats to other countries”.
The TTP, however, is a different story. While the Afghan Taliban had worthwhile grievances in opposing the US, the TTP are in violent opposition to the legitimate standing of the Pakistani government. The TTP’s goals of enveloping the country with their violent, obscurantist ideology run contrary to not only what the citizens of Pakistan and its government want, but what the founder himself envisioned, and talks with them might contravene the Constitution and federal laws.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2013.
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