US capitulates to Taliban

The US is pinning its hopes on secret negotiations to prevent the Taliban from returning to power, the liberal daily La Stampa concludes: "The US plans to release five Guantánamo prisoners to aid the negotiations Washington has been engaged in for weeks with the Taliban and find a political solution to the eleven-year conflict. The goal is an agreement that will placate Karzai's government and the guerrillas. Unfortunately the prisoners are on the list of dangerous terrorists, and only yesterday the contents of a confidential Nato report were made public according to which the Taliban are sure they will be able to reconquer the country. Nato is playing down the significance of the document, but it could be that Washington's negotiations are simply aimed at preventing the Taliban from returning to power as soon as the troops withdraw."

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