McChrystal Elaborates to CNN on Reconciliation

One of the points that Gen. Stanley McChystal, Amb. Karl Eikenberry and Gen. David Petraeus emphasized over three congressional hearings today and yesterday is that they want to help the Afghan government provide a path for insurgents to “reconcile” themselves with the Afghan government. McChrystal even has a deputy, a retired British general named Graeme Lamb, for supporting those reconciliation efforts.

But in an interview being broadcast right now on CNN, Christiane Amanpour said Afghan President Hamid Karzai told her that for the “highest levels” of Taliban enemies like Mullah Omar, the former Taliban ruler of Afghanistan, the U.S. and its allies don’t support reconciliation.

McChrystal replied that if that was the Afghans’ choice, the U.S. would back it — not that he was comfortable with such a decision. “That, ISAF [the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force] would support as appropriate,” McChrystal said, reiterating that for reconciling insurgents “at the lower levels” like foot soldiers, “we’re in sync” with the Afghan government.