Time Not High To Ask Taliban Lay Arms: Gates

Time not high to ask Taliban lay arms: Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that it is probably too early for the Afghan government to urge senior Taliban leaders to surrender.

Gates told a House committee on Wednesday that he believes negotiations between the two would be necessary at some point to bring peace to Afghanistan. But for talks to work, the Afghan government must be in a position of strength and the Taliban convinced they are going to lose, Gates said.

Gates said: “I don’t think we’re there yet.”Earlier, Robert Gates told a congressional hearing that Pakistan now understands the Taliban presents an acute threat to its government.

“It really has been extraordinary in my view, seeing what Pakistan has done over the last more than a year – in terms of becoming engaged, in terms of their operations and in terms of understanding they now face an existential threat,” he said.