A back-channel, U.S.-blessed Saudi diplomatic initiative in December (2008) reported a negotiating proposal from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar demanding, among other things, a new power-sharing arrangement in Kabul, including Karzai; a timetable for U.S. withdrawal; replacing NATO forces with peacekeepers from Islamic countries; and a role for the insurgents in the reconstituted Afghan security forces . . . – Tom Hayden

T om Hayden is a former California state senator. He has written his latest book, "The Long Sixties." Today, Mr. Hayden wrote in the Op-Ed page of the Los Angeles Times this piece, Why die for Karzai?

Mr. Hayden mentioned in his article the idea of “peacekeepers from Islamic countries.” It is the same idea that this writer talked about on Dec. 27, 2007, in this article, The SEATO Should Be Revived to Help Pakistan Secure its A-Bombs and Combat Terrorism .

I wrote in the said December 2007 article, “The participation especially of the Philippines, Thailand, the United States and France – with their substantial Muslim minority population – may be advisable if Muslim peacekeeping divisions, engineering battalions and medical corps can be organized in the said countries and deployed. The entry of Bangladesh can be crucial as it is predominantly a Muslim country and it is now also the source of millions of overseas workers. Even the Philippines and Thailand are facing unrest in their Muslim-controlled provinces and perhaps peacekeepers from Bangladesh can help also maintain the fragile peace-and-order situation in Southern Philippines and the Muslim areas of Thailand, as well as Pakistan.”

And I concluded the article by saying, “And perhaps the SEATO might as well invite Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Vietnam to join a revived collective-defense mechanism. China and Vietnam have a minority Muslim population and it will help of course if the SEATO peacekeepers deployed in its Islamic member countries belong also to the Muslim faith.”

To read Mr. Hayden’s article in its entirety, please click on the hyperlink or this URL:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hayden10-2009nov10,0,5592560.story

Does U.S. support for the Afghan president really make sense?

By Tom Hayden

November 10, 2009

Here again is the hyperlink to my 2007 article, The SEATO Should Be Revived to Help Pakistan Secure its A-Bombs and Combat Terrorism . # # #