RE: [Futurework] Talking with al-Qaida

[Lawrence deBivort]

Hi, Karen,   For the US to broach secretive talks with bin Laden,  I think the best person would be an American who: Has some credibility within the US administration, e.g. someone who has been involved in counter-terrorism studies, or has some experience of the Middle East Can work with administration policy analysts and decision-makers to formulate an effective preliminary set of goals for the interaction with bin Laden Has adequate credibility among those who might be able to set up the meeting with bin Laden Will be able to discern possible incongruencies in what bin Laden and his deputies say, and how they say it Has experience in Middle Eastern culture, and knows something about Islam, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the history of US/Western – Middle Eastern relations Has experience talking with ‘terrorists’ Can think on his feet and is skilled in the use of language Is willing to proceed using minimal security protection, and is willing to meet bin Laden’s deputies and then bin Laden in a situation of mutual security Will be seen as speaking for himself, but with informal connections to the US government Most important, the person must truly be pursuing a goal of genuine conflict resolution   How does that seem?   Cheers, Lawry   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Karen Watters Cole Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 8:30 PM To: futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca Subject: [Futurework] Talking with al-Qaida   Time to Talk to Al Qaeda? http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/14/time_to_talk_to_al_qaeda/   Zarqawi declares war on Shiites On Wednesday, the Sunni-Muslim al Qaeda said in an Internet posting it was waging a nationwide suicide bombing campaign to avenge the military offensive against Sunni rebels in Tal Afar, in which more than 200 insurgents have been killed and several hundreds captured.  "Days pass and battles are numbered and the goal is one: the Crusader-Shi'ite war against Sunnis. Shi'ite districts in the city were avoided and a war of ethnic cleansing war was directed at Sunnis," he said. "The interests of Crusaders and Shi'ites have coincided with each other." Zarqawi also warned Iraqis and tribal leaders they would be killed if they collaborated with U.S. forces.  "Whoever is found to be a member of the National Guard, army or is a spy will be killed and his house will be demolished.  http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-14T194452Z_01_DIT467644_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-IRAQ-ZARQAWI-SHIITES-1-DC.XML Lawry, who would be a possible candidate to broach secretive talks with Al Qaeda? Sistani? I can’t think of any Westerner… After yesterday’s slaughter, according to Juan Cole, “Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani strictly forbade reprisals by Shiites, saying, "If half of Iraq's Shiites were killed, it would not lead to a sectarian war." Sistani is keenly aware that the guerrilla strategy is to sucker the Shiites into attacking Sunni Arabs on a large scale, producing a civil war that would destabilize Iraq and give the Sunni guerrillas an open for making a coup and taking over.. http://www.juancole.com/   Will they heed Sistani’s call?   Clearly, with Zarqawi intensifying attacks on civilians, full civil war will erupt, even as the patch-worked constitution heads to a vote. This week an Iraqi official slammed the US military/private contractors. The more important deal making seems to be over pipelines and military equipment.   I don’t see how Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld are going to spin this, since their political capital is nearing bankruptcy.   Karen

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