U.S. Signals Openness to Dialogue With Taliban Factions

Margaret, welcome. When an American leader, military or civilian, makes a pronouncement on Afghan policy, does it get much attention there?

MARGARET WARNER: Well, it does, Ray, in political circles. I mean, President Karzai yesterday in a speech reacted right away to what President Obama said about reaching out to moderates, noting he's been talking about this for some time.

And he said there are elements of the Taliban leadership that are irreconcilable, like those who've made common cause with al-Qaida, but he said he believes there are others who are simply afraid to come home and that they should be welcomed back.

There's also been some discussion on talk television and talk radio here, though I have to say there are so many other pressing issues here, from security to lack of jobs, that it's not the number-one agenda item in the news.

MARGARET WARNER: Well, Ray, it really depends, of course, who you ask, whom you ask. For instance, today, we were in a very -- in an upscale mall here in Kabul. And we went into a high-end guitar, music instrument shop, which, of course, would never have been allowed to exist during the Taliban.

And the young owner just said, "What a horrible idea," that if the Taliban got back in power in any way, they'd want to shut down stores like his. He already says he lives in fear of just the Taliban that are still around.

On the other hand, we went to see Sema Samar, who's head of the Afghanistan human rights -- independent human rights commission. And she did have a more nuanced view. She said, you know, essentially, it's inevitable. You are going to have to have a political settlement of some sort.

But she said there really -- the U.S. and the Karzai government have to follow strict conditions. And one is not to bargain away any basic rights, especially women's rights, that there has to be some accountability for Taliban leaders who presided over, say, the killing of innocent civilians, which might seem to suggest quite a few of them.

And, finally, she said -- which was quite interesting -- she said, you know, the U.S. and Karzai government need to be able to negotiate from a position of more power or force or strength than they have now militarily, that the Taliban think they're on the march. And for these talks to be successful, the U.S. has to keep the military pressure on.

MARGARET WARNER: Oh, there definitely are. I mean, there are definitely people who say, "You know, we didn't have much freedom, but we did have more security."

Then there are also people here in Afghanistan who feel they're in touch with elements of the Taliban. For instance, yesterday we went to see Roshanak Wardak, who's a member of parliament, a woman, from Wardak province, which is one of the ones that's become quite dangerous recently because of increased Taliban and insurgent activity.

And she said, "Look, I know that a lot of them are my constituents," she said. "I know they're dangerous people. I know they destroyed our country, but they are Afghans. We cannot deny them the right to participate in the Afghan government."

And she says that the U.S. and the Karzai government should make it clear that they're ready to talk. However, she doesn't agree that there's any peeling off of the moderates. She said, you know, you have to deal with the top leadership.

And of course, that means, as she put it, the Quetta Shura, that is the Shura or Council in Quetta, Pakistan. And that's the term that both Afghans use and, in fact, U.S. intelligence agencies use to describe where they think Mullah Omar and the top leadership are.