When I read about Obama's call to enter into 'talks' with moderate elements of Taliban I thought 'well that sounds stupid' - and then when I read some comments by ostensibly objective Muslim commentators who to a man said there's no such thing as a moderate Taliban so the plan made no sense to them I felt justified in doubting Dear Leader - but now I read the plan is the offspring of Petraeus and the full scope of it is to hit the Taliban hard, very hard apparently, over the next few months and hold out this carrot of 'talks' to try and pry free some moderates, fragment the muslim militia, stoke some dissension and distrust etc etc and watch radicals devour themselves - or something along those lines - and so don't know what to think now.
Only semi coherent thought: it may be possible to manufacture moderate faction that one can in a sense nurture in the wilds of Afghanistan and eventually do business with, but that those apostates would then no longer be Talibani, possibly never really were, and therefore I'm not sure what's accomplished, especially if the factions left behind in Pakistan are refined into a purer blend of radical and persuaded to be even more motivated in the making of mayhem. I suppose there could be some significant tactical benefit, intel acquired etc etc - but other than that I find myself a little unconvinced.
