The partners in Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force are right to prepare to talk to the Taliban so as to find a way to negotiate a political solution. It is impossible for Nato and the Afghan forces to fight their way to a long-term political answer to Afghanistan's problems, and the London Conference did a lot of good in making that very clear.
It is wrong that the same states that are happy to talk to their enemies in Afghanistan are not prepared to do exactly the same in Palestine. The United States and Britain, as well as all the other nations, should start talks with Hamas. Even if they disagree with Hamas on points of policy, they should recognise the party that won the last Palestinian general election in a free and transparent vote. They should be able to talk to the leaders of Hamas and find a way out of the terrible impasse in Palestine that benefits no one except the Israelis, who delight in seeing the Fatah-Hamas split destroy Palestinian politics.
It has to be possible for someone to sit opposite his enemies and talk, even when they have diametrically opposed ideas. To exchange views on differences is also to define them and so maybe find areas of cooperation. This has happened in many conflicts: the British government spoke to the Irish Republican Army, despite its blatant espousal of terrorism and eventually the Good Friday Agreement emerged; the de Klerk government of South Africa finally started talking to the African National Congress, and a completely unexpected peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy was the result.
The same logic that the allies have used in Afghanistan should apply in Palestine, and the search for a just and equitable peace would be greatly strengthened.