American Back Down ?

The Americans have a well known adage which says 'If you can't lick em, then join em". Perhaps this has been translated into a reality. On 18 December 2011, Joe Biden the US Vice President made a startling statement.  He said that at no stage per se the Taliban was ever the enemy of America. He went on to add that never has a US President talked of the Taliban as a enemy.

This is to say the least surprising. One may well ask the learned US  President that in case Taliban was never the enemy, then what was the need to oust  the Taliban and Mullah Omar from the tentacles of power in Kabul? The US then with its allies attacked Afghanistan and the Taliban was ousted from power. Till date Mullah Omar is on the run and the US has not been able to capture him.

The fact at issue is slightly different. One can think of the Vietnam war where the US suffered a massive defeat. After a lot of bravado by Lyndon Johnson,  the Americans had to retreat from Vietnam. In Afghanistan also the US under George Bush lost focusand diverted its forces for an attack on  Iraq.  This was the period which was utilized by the Taliban and its ally al Qaeda to regroup and become more resilent. Now 10 years down the line the war in Afghanistan is leading no where. Pakistan is a law unto itself and mocks the USA. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are not destroyed and suicide attacks are a everyday occurrence in Afghanistan. Is this the reason for the Vice Presidents statement ?

What ever it may be the fact is that in case the USA makes up with the Taliban and leaves Afghanistan, the war will not end. The Taliban have never forgiven the USA for ousting them and as far as they are concerned , the USA will remain the 'great satan'