Pentagon dances around Karzai&#039;s rebuff of any Taliban negotiations
{"Image ImageDescription": "Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C), vice president Qasim Faheem (L), and Karim Khalili pay their respects to slain Afghanistan High Peace Council and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani during his funeral at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on September 23, 2011. Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to continue efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban on September 23 as he led thousands of mourners at the funeral of his assassinated peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani. Kabul police deployed thousands of extra officers as part of a security lock down designed to protect the funeral prayers being offered at the presidential palace from increasingly brazen gun and suicide attacks. AFP Photo/ S. SABAWOON/ POOL (Photo credit should read S. SABAWOON/AFP/Getty Images)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Artist": "S. SABAWOON", "Image ExifOffset": "4170", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}