Gates: Path open to Taliban legitimacy

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The Taliban may be part of Afghanistan's "political fabric" but they must reform to attain legitimacy, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.

Speaking to Pakistani journalists Friday in Pakistan, Gates said the insurgents should be offered a path to legitimacy, allowing that "the Taliban, we recognize, are a part of the political fabric of Afghanistan at this point.

"The question," he added, "is whether they are prepared to play a legitimate role in the political fabric of Afghanistan going forward, meaning participate in elections, meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families and opposing education of children and so on."

Saying that "no one wants a return to warlords" -- a reference to the militia fiefdoms that characterized Afghanistan before the 2001 U.S. invasion -- Gates said a "political reconciliation" with the Taliban will be part of a scenario that could end the war.

But before that happens, he said, the Taliban must agree to "adherence to the Afghan constitution, (and acknowledge) the Afghan government as the sole legitimate source of military power within the country."