An Awakening for Afghanistan?
Day 48
March 8, 2009
"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region."
—President Obama, suggesting he'd consider reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban, in an interview with the New York Times aboard Air Force One
The President makes some news in a 35-minute interview with the New York Times published in its Sunday edition by opening the door to a reconciliation process of reaching out to more moderate elements of the Taliban. The U.S. military did the same with Sunni militias in Iraq, known as the Awakening, and Obama is hoping it can work for Afghanistan.
During the interview, Obama also backs away from earlier comments made by Attorney General Eric Holder that America is a "nation of cowards" when it comes to race, telling the paper, "I think it's fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have used different language."