Official Washington often exacerbates foreign conflicts by shoving them into misshapen narratives or treating them as good-guy-vs.-bad-guy morality plays, rather than political disputes that require mediation. The problem is particularly tricky with “terrorist” groups, writes ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller.
By Graham E. Fuller
I can’t believe that I’ve been outflanked on the Progressive Left by Fareed Zakaria! Hints of negotiation with the Islamic State (also called ISIS)!
In a Washington Post op-ed, Zararia cited Afghan negotiations with the Taliban and questioned whether similar talks might be useful even with ISIS: “After all, this is a particularly brutal and murderous group, but it is successful largely because it has tapped into the fears and rage of disempowered Sunnis in Iraq and Syria. That is a political grievance that can only be addressed politically.”
Afghan commandos demonstrate their skills for U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Camp Morehead, Afghanistan, April 23, 2012. (Defense Department photo by D. Myles Cullen)
I’ve got a lot of respect for Zakaria – he generally works within the outer limits of the establishment envelope – just enough to nudge along a lot of establishment readers with new ideas without losing them. Those of us working often outside that envelope run the risk of losing readers, or never even gaining their ear in the first place.
Yet what is Zakaria saying? He makes the very important point that many of us have been making for a long time: we have to deal with political realities by talking to people we don’t like. But it’s good he’s now saying it – maybe the idea is going mainstream, at last.
Zakaria muddies the argument a bit, though, by employing the catch-all term “terrorists.” Of course terrorists exist, but the world has spent the last several decades (if not longer) in debating just what a terrorist is. All kinds of prestigious organizations including the UN have failed to come up with a consensus on the meaning of the word.
We end up having to revert to the old line that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” In short, we…