Moderate Taliban want peace, says outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker. He said that there are elements within the Taliban that support the peace process, despite a rash of this summer's suicide bombings. He also said that he did not think the departure of foreign troops in 2014 will plunge another civil war. - NY Daily News

Moderate Taliban want peace, says outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan - NY Daily News: "Afghanistan has a history of conflict between warring ethnic factions. Pashtuns, who predominantly make up the Taliban, are the majority ethnic group in the country and have strongholds in the south. Minority factions, including the Hazaras, Uzbeks and Tajiks, are more firmly rooted in the north. Members of all the groups are part of the Afghan security forces, but some fear without the presence of international troops, the nation and its police force and army could split along ethnic lines, prompting another civil war.

The ambassador acknowledged that northern Afghanistan has a lot of militias, but said he didn't think they threatened national unity. "I think their primary interest has been criminal activity, rather than preparing for the next civil war, which I really don't see coming," he said.

Crocker is retiring from the foreign service after a storied tenure in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots. Without giving specifics, the U.S. State Department said health reasons have forced the 62-year-old envoy to leave Kabul."

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Israel-Egypt: Newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy’s call to “update” the Israel-Egypt peace agreement has stirred apprehension in Jerusalem. True, Morsy and other Brotherhood leaders have declared repeatedly that they will respect past agreements and that their focus is the treaty’s military annex. It’s also true that this position was embraced by nearly all other presidential candidates; with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict such a visceral issue, the treaty isn’t likely to disappear from public debate. But long standing Israeli fears about the Brotherhood and its fraternal relationship with Hamas have provoked skepticism among Israelis about Morsy’s intentions in general and altering the annex in particular.- By Ofer Zalzberg, Special to CNN

Time to update the Israel-Egypt peace agreement? – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs: "The choice that confronts Israel today is retaining the hard power of strategic depth and an effectively demilitarized Sinai versus pursuing the subtler gain of the Brotherhood’s political representatives endorsing the acceptability of a peace agreement with Israel. This would entail no small adjustment for the group and require a break with its past positions. But given Egypt’s huge socioeconomic problems, Egypt’s new president will be under pressure to deliver a success, and a foreign policy victory could prove enticing. The rising Islamist influence in the Arab world by and large has led Israel to pursue a wait-and-see strategy, but the Brotherhood’s newfound prominence has also generated opportunities that Jerusalem should not ignore. - By Ofer Zalzberg, Special to CNN
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