Karzai May Be in Secret Talks With Taliban

Not so secret anymore?

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has been engaging in "clandestine contacts" with the Taliban in an effort to reach a peace agreement, the New York Times reports.

Citing unnamed Western and Afghan officials, the Times reports that the contacts with the Taliban have done little to forge a peace agreement in the country. But they may go a long way to explaining Karzai's actions in recent months that have frustrated the Obama administration, which has tried to plan operations in Afghanistan after all U.S. combat forces leave the country at the end of this year.