In news from Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has acknowledged for the first time that the United States has been involved in preliminary talks with the Taliban to seek a political solution to the nearly 10-year-old war. Despite the start of the talks, Gates warned against a fast drawdown of U.S. troops.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: “My own view is that real reconciliation talks are not likely to be able to make any substantive headway until at least this winter. I think that the Taliban have to feel themselves under military pressure and begin to believe that they can’t win, before they’re willing to have a serious conversation.”