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Summary
US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates says the United States has a say in talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, even if US officials aren't sitting at the peace table. Gates says any reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgents has to be led by Afghans. But he told a NATO press conference in Brussels Thursday that the US is offering advice and kept an ear on the initial talks. Gates says reconciliation efforts may not bear fruit anytime soon, but he says the effort is worth making. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton added that the US supports what the Afghans are doing, but is not ready to make any judgment about how far the talks should go.
