Should We Talk To "Al-Qaeda"?

Well, it would have to exist first.

We certainly already talk to the Taliban. We just call them “tribal elders” when we do so. But they are exactly the same people. I expect that we already talk to each and every one of the many related but unconnected phenomena falling under the “al-Qaeda” heading.

As for Oliver Kamm’s effort on PM, I see that circumstances are so straightened that they are having to ask on people who don’t need to be paid and would not otherwise be give airtime. And I note that Kamm had the effrontery to mention “al-Qaeda in Iraq”, which is entirely a product of that country’s invasion and occupation, and very specifically of the removal of Saddam Hussein, cheered on by Oliver Kamm, who pointedly refers to the country in question as “Mesopotamia”, refusing even to acknowledge the existence of Iraq.