Talking To Terrorists

By Cernig

The AP reports that the US military in Iraq has authorized its commanders to make deals with anyone who will make them for ceasefires.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.

``We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces.,'' Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.

``It's just the beginning, so we have a lot of work to do on this,'' he said. ``But we have restructured ourselves to organize to work this issue.''

Four years in, the US military and the Bush administration have finally accepted what many on the Left knew all along - that you have to eventually deal with some of the terrorists if you want the shooting to stop because you cannot kill them all - and it sounds like they're so desparate for some good news they are going overboard on the idea.

Of course, the reason it took so long is that the US military had to overcome political pressure from warmongering asshats like this and this.