US envoy: Some militants irreconcilable (Negroponte in Pakistan)

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

KARACHI, Pakistan - A senior U.S. envoy gave a cautious response Thursday to the new government's hopes for peace talks with pro-Taliban forces, saying it was not possible to negotiate with "irreconcilable elements who want to destroy our way of life."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's deposed chief justice visited the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in his first excursion since being freed from house arrest.

The new government's partners, who routed President Pervez Musharraf's loyalists to take control of Parliament, have suggested dialogue with pro-Taliban forces blamed for escalating violence. The approach has drawn criticism from Washington, which has provided about $10 billion in aid to Pakistan since 2001.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, meeting this week with the new leaders, said Thursday that while some hard-liners could be persuaded to participate in the democratic process, he did not see how it would be possible to hold discussions with some "irreconcilable" militants.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080327/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_

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US stepping up unilateral strikes in Pakistan: report
2 hours, 21 minutes ago


ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The United States is escalating unilateral strikes against Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal areas amid fears that the new government here will curtail such attacks, a report said Thursday.

The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that the US administration wants to do as much damage as it can to Al-Qaeda because it is worried that President Pervez Musharraf will have reduced powers in coming months.

Musharraf's allies lost elections last month, and new prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told US President George W. Bush this week that a broader approach to the "war on terror" is necessary, including political solutions.

The Post report said that in the past three months US Predator drones hit at least three sites used by Al-Qaeda militants in tribal regions near the Afghan border, killing about 45 Arab, Afghan and other foreign fighters.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080327/pl_afp/pakistanattacksus_080327145022

[Solly Mack]

1. "not possible to negotiate with irreconcilable elements who want to destroy our way of life."

For example...Negroponte...Bush...Cheney

[bdamomma]

3. that is the death squad right there.

Bush, Cheney and Negroponte.

[bemildred]

2. Send Kissinger to help him. They can do a tour of the tribal areas. nt

[Supersedeas]

4. this attitude is likely to spread as long as Rice and Negroponte are at the helm