Picked up the story from Bloggledygook. Captain Ed reports a little-told story that the Taliban in Afghanistan is starting to give up the fight and rejoin society on peaceful terms.

One of the Taliban’s most senior and charismatic commanders has become a key negotiator as more and more members of the Islamic militia in Afghanistan give up the fight against the Americans.

The commander, Abdul Salam, earned the nickname Mullah Rockety because he was so accurate with rocket propelled grenades against Russian troops. …

After the Taliban’s three-year struggle against a superior US force, there is growing optimism among the Americans and Afghan government that the end is close.

More than 1,000 people have died in violence in the past 18 months, but attacks have tailed off since the guerrillas failed to make good their vow to disrupt the presidential election in October, which saw a huge turnout and was won by Mr Karzai.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said yesterday that a group of Taliban militia including senior officials will soon join the Afghan government’s peace initiative.

“They are in Kabul seeking peace and to boost the reconciliation process,” he said, adding that he was hopeful that the Taliban surrender would take place before the parliamentary elections, expected in the summer.

Let me pull out my victory score sheet here. Alright, that’s America: 1,000,000,000 and Taliban: 0.