Nobel Laureate and President of East Timor writes that the creation of a power sharing government in Afghanistan, one that includes the Taliban, is the only hope for a lasting peace in the country.

In a recent article on the Wall Street Journal, he says the new government should initiate talks, supported by the US, which would establish conditions, including expulsion of all Al Qaeda bases and a guarantee against persecution of women and children. An increase in troops, he says, would put the US in a better bargaining position. But an increase in troops without simultaneous talks would be fruitless.

Read the article before you decide, he lays out some thought-provoking reasons why the Taliban may have reasons to shift toward a more moderate and pragmatic stance.