Say it aint so.
http://www.military.com/news/article/March-2009/clinton-offers-olive-branch-to-taliban.htmlClinton Offers Olive Branch to Taliban
March 31, 2009
Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered an olive branch Tuesday to Taliban fighters who reject al-Qaida and pressed an international conference for help in strengthening Afghanistan's security forces.
More than 80 of Afghanistan's neighboring states or military and financial donors were attending a one-day conference in The Hague to brainstorm about how to stabilize Afghanistan seven years after the expulsion of the Taliban government.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Medhi Akhundzadeh was among the delegates - the first time the U.S. and Iran have met at a conference table since President Barack Obama offered better relations with the Islamic republic. There was no indication that any U.S. envoy would meet privately with the Iranians, and the two countries were separated on opposite ends of the table alphabetically.
Sitting around a horseshoe-shaped table, Clinton said most of the Taliban fighters have allied with anti-government forces "out of desperation" rather than commitment, in a country that has barely made inroads against poverty and lack of development.
Karzai and Clinton said Afghanistan would welcome Taliban fighters who embrace peace and pledge to abide by the Afghan constitution