Time to negotiate with the Taliban

Imran Khan was being interviewed by Andrew Marr earlier and made the suggestion that it would be better for the Western powers to leave Afghanistan immediately.

His rational was two fold.Firstly that the conflict was destroyed his own country Pakistan,and secondly that history has taught us that any conflict in Afghanistan is unwindable.Just ask the Soviet army of the 1980's and the British army of the 19th century.

More controversially he also suggested that Barack Obama should immediately ope negotiations with the Taliban.They,he argued were never the West's enemy.

Today's New York Times on that very subject carries an interview with the American President in which he

declared the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq.

It will be seen in some quarters as a controversial policy but with the war seemingly deadlocked and western patience with the Karzai regime seemingly running out it may be a way forward.