December 22, 2011
U.S. EMBASSY IN AFGHANISTAN: In response to a question on Vice President Biden’s recent statement on the Taliban, U.S Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said: “What the Vice President said was that the Taliban is not necessarily our enemy if they lay down arms and renounce violence, break ties with al Qaeda and accept Afghanistan’s constitution, especially concerning women and minorities.”
“The Taliban has a choice: Continue to fight or join Afghan society by accepting those conditions,” said Ambassador Crocker.
Ambassador Crocker noted that in Washington, Department of Defense Spokesperson Captain John Kirby also reiterated the Administration’s policy with regard to the Taliban. “As they and when they continue to attack innocent people in Afghanistan and pose a threat to our troops, we consider that is a force we are going to deal with,” Kirby said. Kirby also commented: “We continue to work very hard to roll back — and we have rolled back — the Taliban and continue to fight them every day. And every day we continue to weaken their ability to inflict harm on the Afghan people. That said, they also have political ambitions, and that’s why there’s a reconciliation process being led by the Afghan government, with support from our State Department.”
