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Afghan Ceasefire: Two More Good Ideas
By maudeaster on 2012-01-11 12:23:59
Last week I blogged about how declaring a ceasefire in Afghanistan would help the US get us out of the quagmire of this
seemingly endless war. Since then I’ve been encouraged to hear that multiple variations on the ceasefire idea are perking in
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the foreign policy world. How about declaring ceasefire zones as a first step? Reports on the success of US
and German efforts to spur negotiations through the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar included discussion of US interest
in exploring ceasefire zones in parts of Afghanistan. “For the U.S., one goal of talks with the Taliban would be to identify
cease-fire zones that could be used as a steppingstone toward a full peace agreement that stops most fighting”.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/taliban-gatar-office_n_1180587.html How about a unilateral
temporary ceasefire declaration contingent on acceptance by the other side that becomes permanent only if the other
side reciprocates? This proposal comes from Australian and Afghan researchers for Peacebuilding Compared, a study of
what works in peacebuilding across 50 armed conflicts. John Braithwaite and Ali Wardak argue that the US would have the
advantage if it acted first to declare a temporary, contingent ceasefire —and that if the US doesn’t act first, the Taliban will
gain political benefit with war-weary Afghans by making the first move for peace. http://inside.org.au/is-killing-taliban-a-
good-idea/ How do these ideas sound to you? We are all so used to hearing promotion of war-making strategies — it’s new to
be hearing about war-ending strategies, but for me it’s thinking we desperately need to get our soldiers and dollars home
from Afghanistan!
