Negotiate? Really? Murders show that it is time for U.S. leaders to see reality of Taliban

They stopped a caravan of aid workers who came to Afghanistan to help provide medical and dental care to the nation's poor.

They took the Americans and others out of the van and they robbed them and shot them.

And these are the people that the Obama administration and others want to negotiate with and are worried about offending?

Forget the olive branches and the rhetoric. While there has been the hope that perhaps diplomacy might be what this country needs to offer to bring peace to the Middle East, this latest horror story against innocents in Afghanistan ought to be evidence, again, of the need for someone to put their foot down and get back to being tough.

Wake up. The Taliban want Americans dead. They do not care why they are in their country or even if they are in the country. They have sworn to do battle against infidels and, sorry to say, we, and other western nations, are them.

There has been tough talk out of Washington in the wake of this latest atrocity. Perhaps someone there is finally aware of the futility of negotiating with people who see nothing wrong with killing innocent people in their country, let alone those who are from foreign lands.

Bullies like this only respond to one thing -- a show of force, a stand that this sort of behavior will be met with severe and swift response.

They think we are weak and that we do not have the stomach for battle.

It is time to remind the Taliban that we do.

Published in Editorials on August 9, 2010 10:40 AM