-News articles that show what may be going on behind the scenes.-

-It looks like Afghan President Karzai is planning for the return of the Taliban-

There is little doubt that they will take power again when western soldiers disappear. In just one more example in the never ending string of clumsy responses, it appears that the United States is trying to put pressure on him by isolating him from the Afghan public through means such as exposing his advisers as CIA employees. There may be some hidden logic in the U.S. treatment of Karzai, but if there is it is very well hidden.

OnePakistan.com 8/02/2010

10 Taliban taken off UN terror list

UNITED NATIONS : Ten Taliban members and 35 Al-Qaeda members and affiliates have been removed from a UN sanctions terror list after an exhaustive review of 488 names, Austria's UN ambassador announced Monday.

"As a result of the review of 488 names, 45 were delisted," Thomas Mayr-Harting, the chair of the UN Security Council panel that maintains a blacklist of individuals and entities linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, told reporters. (...)

Voanews.com 7/30/2010

UN Removes 5 Taliban From Terror List

United Nations officials say five members of the Taliban have been taken off a U.N. sanctions blacklist, a move sought by the Afghan government to promote reconciliation.

A U.N. Security Council committee has been reviewing the list of 137 names that freezes assets and limits travel of those with suspected links to the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Officials said Friday former Afghan ambassador to the United Nations Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad Awrang; former Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef; Abdul Satar Paktin; and two deceased officials (Abdul Samad Khaksar and Muhammad Islam Mohammadi) were removed from the terrorism sanctions list.  

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had been calling for the removal of at least 10 former Taliban members from the blacklist, as part of a reintegration plan for Taliban fighters willing to lay down their weapons.

Diplomats say the U.N. Security Council will continue its review of the list. The U.N. blacklist was established in 1999 under U.N. Resolution 1267.