From the Oct. 29 Globe and Mail:

Talking to the Taliban – long dismissed as unthinkable – was endorsed Tuesday by senior envoys from the embattled governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even the Bush administration conceded it too was considering “reaching out” to reconcile with some elements of the doctrinaire Islamist movement that once harboured al-Qaeda.

The fundamental policy shift reflects a stark reality: The raging insurgency in Afghanistan has proven the war may not be winnable militarily and that the resurgent Taliban may need to be included in any far-reaching peace. ...

One Taliban spokesman rejected the overture, setting the pullout of all foreign troops as a precondition for talks.

“We will not hold any dialogue while foreign troops commanded by the Americans are in our country,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters in a satellite telephone call from undisclosed location.

But the Taliban has many elements and some of its emissaries have already held preliminary talks with the Kabul government.