Nato's 'safe passage' for Taliban

[WestVirginiaRebel]

BBC:

Nato has granted safe passage to Kabul for at least one Taliban commander to hold talks with the Afghan government, according to General David Petraeus.

The commander of international forces in Afghanistan said in London the move aimed to back President Hamid Karzai's efforts to reach out to the insurgents.

Despite the peace feelers, analysts say the bigger picture is of an intensifying insurgency in the country.

During his address to a defence think tank, Gen Petraeus said there were "several ongoing initiatives" to try to get the Taliban to the negotiating table.

"Indeed in certain respects we do facilitate that given that needless to say it would not be the easiest of tasks for a senior Taliban commander to enter Afghanistan and make his way to Kabul if Isaf [Nato's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan] were not willing and aware of it and therefore allows it to take place," Gen Petraeus said.

He told the Royal United Services Institute that several "very senior" Taliban leaders had made contact with the Afghan government and other countries engaged in Afghanistan for preliminary discussions.
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This sounds something like what Rome did when it tried dealing with barbarian invaders. Didn't work out too well for them, as I recall.