Neumann on Musa Qala, Karzai on Taliban talks, and US buys local water

  CSIS's PCR Project on Afghanistan is tracking these stories, among others, this week:

• A rare rift between the U.S. and the British emerged this week as U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann expressed “a lot of nervousness” about the British tribal deal and subsequent withdrawal from Musa Qala, Helmand.
  
• President Karzai has, for the first time, said that he is willing to talk to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a major Taliban supporter. Their dissimilar responses confirm that the insurgency is not monolithic. . .
• Beginning this week, the U.S.-led coalition of 10,000 soldiers not under NATO command will purchase its drinking water from an Afghan-based bottling plant.