Do Not Reward Taliban Treachery
IBDEditorials.com
War On Terror: As the Taliban assassinate U.S. military officers and poison troop chow in Afghanistan, the president secretly plans the release of Taliban prisoners from Gitmo.
Whose side is this commander in chief on? Just days before members of the Taliban took credit for infiltrating the Afghan Interior Ministry and murdering two American officers, the Obama administration was finalizing a secret deal with the terror group.
"If all goes as hoped," reported Reuters, "U.S. and Qatari negotiators will meet soon to nail down final details for transferring Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo prison — a momentous step for President Obama, the Afghan war and perhaps U.S. foreign policy as well."
The deal reportedly includes a political office for the Taliban in Qatar and possible power-sharing for the banned terrorist group in Kabul. What does the U.S. get out of the deal? More treachery and bloodshed.
On Saturday, a Taliban agent planted inside the high-security Interior Ministry murdered in cold blood a U.S. major and lieutenant colonel while they were visiting the building. The Taliban operative, posing as a ministry employee, pulled out a gun and shot the two unarmed officers in the head at close range.
The Taliban also claimed credit for infiltrating a NATO base in Afghanistan and poisoning fruit and coffee with bleach in a mess hall.
The murder of the two soldiers, which was carried out by an insurgent wearing an Afghan national army uniform, was not the first instance of Afghan security forces turning on U.S. or NATO troops.
According to a new Pentagon report, there have been 50 such insider murders since 2007. Many of the attacks have been carried out by Taliban insurgents disguised as Afghan security personnel.
How do they get so close to our troops? They're imbedded with them as military or police trainees. In many cases, they're assigned to "guard" them. Yes, you read that correctly: The Pentagon has brought in Afghan nationals to provide "security" for our troops.
You'd think U.S. command would thoroughly vet local Muslims for such a sensitive duty. But that would make too much sense. Fact is, military brass don't even screen them, at least not using military personnel. That critical chore is farmed out to private contractors.
The administration thinks the sooner it stands up an Afghan army and national police, the sooner it can pull out troops. Obama has announced a formal 2014 withdrawal. But by telegraphing his plans, everybody in Afghanistan knows we're leaving.
And now there's no reason for a local Afghan Muslim not to side with the Taliban, either openly or secretly, especially in light of reports the administration is in political talks with the Taliban.
Afghans working for the army or police have good reason to fear the Taliban will soon be back in power. If they don't want to end up buried in a soccer field, they'll throw in with the Taliban — and help them kill as many American "infidels" from the inside as they can.
The enemy must be doubled over with laughter at the stupidity of this administration.