The heads of NATO country members will meet in Chicago on May 20, 2012 for a two- day summit to discuss various issues and Afghanistan, the withdrawal of NATO troops and future of the country will be the main agenda that the NATO leaders will debate on. The summit is held after the US and Afghanistan signed an important strategic agreement that urges the two countries to stay together and united against the war on terror.
NATO's military mission in Afghanistan, which took more than a decade of uncertain and costly war, is the organization's first oversee mission that has recently been undermined and seriously challenged by the Taliban and Al-Qaida's reinvigorated attempt to return to power. The success and failure of this mission will have tremendous impacts on the organization's future role and even existence.
The government of Afghanistan is an important participant in the Summit. Since his reelection in 2009, President Hamid Karzai has promised to put an end to Afghanistan's lingering conflict through diplomacy and negotiation with the Taliban.
The President has called on the Taliban leaders several times to come and join the political process. The initial peace talk was extended by Afghan government to the Taliban in 2007 and the Taliban Leadership Council prepared a list of demands to Afghan government as pre-conditions for peace.
The Taliban had three concrete and clear-cut demands. First, their prisoners held in Bagram detention center and Guantanamo Bay should be released. Foreign troops should immediately leave Afghanistan and at least 10 southern provinces should be surrendered to the Taliban where they can establish the Islamic Emirate style government that they formed in 1996.
In the last years since 2007, the government utilized every possible tool to bring the Taliban on the negation table, but none worked. The government called the Grand Peace Jirga in 2010 and Taliban was invited too. The group boycotted the Jirga and attempted to disrupt it through rocket firing and suicide bombing.
The government established the High Council for Peace and the Taliban even assassinated its head under the guise of negotiation. The Chicago summit is held at a crucial time when the foreign troops have already started to withdraw and the Taliban have strongly maintained their previous position and demands towards the government and its peace agenda.
The future of the country is at risk and the Summit will determine how long the international community can afford the failure of Afghanistan and in what forms. Given this short background and the current situation on the ground, it is recommended that the Afghan and NATO officials attending the Summit need to start thinking and negotiating critically to identify the flaws of previous strategies towards the Taliban.
They should learn from the Taliban that if they can prepare a list of concrete demands as prerequisites for peace in 2007 and under frustrating political and military circumstances, then the NATO and Afghan government should also be able to determine, "Who are Taliban? What should be compromised on as an incentive for peace and what values should be kept as red-lines and preserved at all cost.
The Taliban have never renounced violence nor have changed their political doctrine. The NATO and Afghan government should expect the outcome of peace talks under this circumstance. In short, NATO and Afghan government should prepare a consensual package as pre-conditions for peace and this package should be used by all members, including Afghan government in any future military or political confrontation with the Taliban.
The package should enlist Afghan government and international community's achievements and core values that cannot be compromised. It should be clearly communicated to the Taliban that under which conditions they can join the political process and what they need to change in their strategies before to be picked for negotiation.
The Taliban should be clearly warned about the continuation of violent strategy. Participant in Chicago should commit to respect this package and use it as binding document at anytime including military operations and peace talks. This way, everyone understands that what NATO and Afghan government are looking for and the mistakes resulted from past fragmentation will be avoided.