We have been encouraging President Karzai to sit down with "reformed" Taliban who have sworn off fighting Americans but this appears to be something much different: Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources. The talks follow inconclusive meetings, hosted by Saudi Arabia, that ended more than a year ago. While emphasizing the preliminary nature of the current discussions, the sources said that for the first time they believe that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar."They are very, very serious about finding a way out," one source close to the talks said of the Taliban.Although Omar's representatives have long publicly insisted that negotiations were impossible until all foreign troops withdraw, a position...(Read Full Post)