Taliban

Krauthammer Notes The Disconnect Of The Admin (Updated)

Published by Papa Giorgio
Obama Inspired Taliban To Kidnap More

…For the Taliban, it doesn’t matter. They see the exchange as an unmitigated victory. “Our talks finally proved successful for the prisoners’ swap,” says the commander. “We returned our valued guest to his people and in return, they freed our five heroes held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002.”…

…“I cannot explain how our people are happy and excited over this unbelievable achievement.” (He too has been known to TIME for several years). “This is a historic moment for us. Today our enemy for the first time officially recognized our status.”…

….Asked whether the Taliban would be inspired by the exchange to kidnap others, he laughed. “Definitely,” he says. “It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people. It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”

(Time Magazine, HotAir, andThe Hill)

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: But that’s not a messaging problem, that’s a conceptual problem. They have no idea what they actually did. Even those of us who might grudgingly accept the cost of that swap would understand that this is a defeat for the United States. This is a moment of solemn solemnity and sorrow that we had to make this deal endangering our country as a result but in the name of saving someone. But the president thought of it as a victory lap, shows up in the Rose Garden, he has his acolytes speaking about this being a happy day, Harry Reid, it’s a day we ought to celebrate. This is insane. This is a defeat for the United States, and, if anything, you regretfully announce it solemnly and you move on.

Gay Patriot provides this UPDATE:

As the Bergdahl Narrative Falls Apart, Obama Administration Turns Its Venom on the Troops

One might have been tempted to think the Obama Administration had hit rock-bottom when they called Bowe Bergdahl’s fellow soldiers liars and “swift-boaters*” for disputing the Administration’s official line that Bergdahl served with “honor and distinction.” (Maybe with the Taliban.) That seemed to be as low they could go.

Then, somebody went and tossed them a shovel.

An administration spokesman (for the Department of Housing and Urban Development) took to Teh Twitters and called those soldiers (the ones that didn’t desert and collaborate with the Taliban)… “psychopaths.” 

…read it all…

“He’s a Deserter Who Sought Out the Taliban” ~ Sgt Evan Buetow

Published by Papa Giorgio

See my earlier — in-depth — post on this topic, HERE.

Via Media’ite (h/t d’Smock):

In an appearance on CNN with Jake Tapper on Tuesday, former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s team leader on the night he disappeared from his base in Afghanistan, asserted that he had access to radio intercepts which indicated that Bergdahl actively sought out the Taliban. Following Bergdahl’s capture, Buetow alleged, the Taliban’s attacks on Americans became “far more directed.”

Buetow told CNN that, within days of Bergdahl’s disappearance, military teams monitoring radio communications intercepted radio chatter and telephonic communication which indicated that an American was searching for Taliban members who spoke English.

“When we heard that, it told us, okay, he’s actively seeking out the Taliban,” Buetow said. “And, yes, over the next couple of months, all the attacks were far more directed.”

“I heard it straight from the interpreter’s lips as he heard it over the radio,” Buetow told Tapper. “There’s a lot more to this story than a soldier walking away.”

..read it all…

Via Gateway Pundit:

Colonel David Hunt told Bill O’Reilly tonight that Bowe Bergdahl was a deserter.

“Bowe Bergdahl was a deserter. Bergdahl on June 20, 2009 crawled underneath a wire at his fire base with water, food, a change of clothes, a knife and a cell phone. He called his unit the day after he deserted to tell his unit he deserted… Bill, we lost 14 soldiers, killed, searching for a deserter. He left his unit in combat. It’s non-arguable… We don’t know yet if he joined the Taliban or not. But, there’s no question he deserted.

And according to liberal extraordinaire, Jeffry Toobin, CNN legal analyst, says Obama clearly broke the law (The Blaze):

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin claimed on Monday that President Barack Obama “clearly broke the law” by failing to provide notice to Congress at least 30 days before trading five Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Swatting down the Obama administration’s justification, Toobin argued that a presidential signing statement doesn’t mean the commander-in-chief no longer has to comply with the law.

“I think he clearly broke the law. The law says 30-days’ notice. He didn’t give 30-days’ notice,” Toobin said. “It is true he issued a signing statement, but signing statements are not law. Signing statements are the president’s opinion on what the law should be.”

a commissioner of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, disagrees with the assumption that Taliban insurgents are fighting for inclusion in the political process in Afghanistan

Published by Papa Giorgio

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/04/06/Reconciliation_Human_Rights_and_Exiting_Afghanistan

From video description:

Ahmad Nader Nadery, a commissioner of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, disagrees with the assumption that Taliban insurgents are fighting for inclusion in the political process in Afghanistan. “This war at best is about domination, not a desire to be included,” argues Nadery.

This summer marks the first deadline for U.S. and international troops to begin transitioning security responsibilities to Afghan forces. While the Obama Administration views this limited withdrawal as progress, a recent report by the Century Foundation, Afghanistan: Negotiating Peace, suggests that the U.S. exit strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to fail without reconciliation negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.

Can reconciliation offer a peaceful way forward for Afghanistan and its neighbors, or will compromises with the Taliban undermine long-term stability and human rights in Afghanistan? – Open Society Foundations

Ahmad Nader Nadery is a Commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. He represented Afghan Civil Society at the UN peace talks for Afghanistan in the Bonn Conference 2001. Mr. Nadery works also as the Chairperson of Fair and Free Election Foundation of Afghanistan, he is a member of advisory board to Open Society Institute (OSI) Afghanistan programs.

He has written extensively on politics and human rights in Afghanistan and is a member of Board of Editors of the Oxford Journal on Transitional Justice. He served as Spokesperson for the national grand assembly (Loya Jerga) in 2002. Prior to his appointment at the AIHRC he worked as country director for the international human rights law group (Global Rights).

He studied law and political sciences at the Kabul University and earned his masters degree on International Affairs from George Washington University.