Top Romney advisor believes ‘US must negotiate with terrorists’

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Washington, Oct 9: A top advisor to Mitt Romney’s campaign had argued that the US should sometimes negotiate with some of the world’s most objectionable actors, including terrorists, rogue states, and even the Taliban, it has emerged.

“What kind of foreign policy can we expect from a Romney administration? In preparing for his presidential bid, Mitt Romney has carefully curated an inner circle of advisors, among them a well-regarded former U. S. diplomat named Mitchell Reiss,” reads a marketing e-mail sent out last month for the 2010 book by Reiss.

“In his book Negotiating with Evil, Reiss explores one of the most critical questions in foreign policy today-when, and how, should we negotiate with terrorists? Drawing upon his experiences in Northern Ireland and North Korea, he presents an argument that the United States not only should, but at times must enter into conversations with hostile foreign elements,” it added.

According to the Foreign Policy Magazine, Reiss became an unlikely figure in the Republican primary debates when Romney explicitly rejected his call to open up negotiations with the Taliban as a means of ending the decade long war in Afghanistan.

In his book, Reiss doubled down on that call, praising the Obama administration for opening up channels of communication with the Taliban in 2009, though he criticizes the Obama team for fumbling those interactions, the report said.

“The president appeared to recognize that the United States could not kill or capture every Taliban member,” Reiss wrote.

“Some would have to be co-opted, accommodated, or bargained with in order for Washington to accomplish its mission,” he added.

According to the report, Reiss, who is now a senior advisor to Romney, had served as the State Department director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. (ANI)