Defining terrorism down

| January 30, 2015

The other day, the White House engaged in rhetorical calisthenics when asked by a White House reporter if this administration wasn’t being hypocritical when they condemn Jordan for a prisoner exchange to get their downed pilot back from al Qaeda when the White House traded five Guantanamo detainees for Bowe Bergdahl. According to ABC News;

[Deputy Press Secretary Eric] Schultz explained that the exchange the United States made with the Taliban — releasing five Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in exchange for the release of Sgt. Bergdahl — was consistent with that policy because the Taliban is an “armed insurgency” and not a terrorist organization.

It’s even funnier if you watch him explain it in this video;


World News Videos | ABC World News

Of course, the Taliban is indeed a terrorist group – they throw acid in the faces of children, they bomb public places in hopes of civilian casualties, they hide behind the population to launch their cowardly attacks. But, you know, since the Obama Administration has unilaterally declared that the Afghanistan War has ended (without a vote from the Taliban, Haqqani or al Qaeda), changing the name of the type of threat our troops face there is something we should expect from this group of pointy-headed scholars of history.

By the way, the “armed insurgency” claimed responsibility in a “green-on-blue” attack in Kabul airport which claimed two contractors’ lives, according to Fox News;

The attack came Thursday evening at a military base at Kabul’s international airport, and also left one Afghan dead. The Taliban’s claim of responsibility came in a message on Friday from spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who identified the attacker as a man named “Hessanullha,” from Laghman province, just east of Kabul. Hessanullha “penetrated into the security forces and was waiting for such a target for a long time,” Mujahid said.

“Yesterday in the evening he managed to get to a crowd of invading and infidel American military forces where he turned his gun towards them and opened fire,” he added. “During the gun battle, Ehsanullah was also killed by the enemy.”

And, oh, by the way, one of those five terrorists that we released from Guantanamo in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl has tried to rejoin the Taliban, according to Lindsay Graham;

“[The prisoners released to Qatar] had some Haqqani people come to meet with them. … They’re reaching out. The Taliban five are communicating with people inside Afghanistan.”

However, Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a leading Capitol Hill voice on foreign policy, said all five are still in Qatar.

“I was afraid one had left, but they told me they’re all still there,” he said.

The Pentagon said in a statement that it would not comment on specific cases involving the detainees.

“However, we take any incidence of re-engagement very seriously, and we work in close coordination through military, intelligence, law enforcement and diplomatic channels to mitigate re-engagement and to take follow-on action when necessary,” the statement said. “The Defense Department has a close security partnership with the government of Qatar. We’re confident in our ability to continue to mitigate any threat that may be posed by the former Guantanamo detainees.”

Yeah, well, there has been a recidivism rate of about 30% among these Gitmo grads, so we can pretty much expect them to go back into the wild and catch up with their terrorist buddies.

Category: Terror War

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medic09

I blame Israel. No, seriously. I say it as an Israeli citizen. Israel was the staunch symbol of ‘no dealing with terrorists’. That completely broke down with the Jibril deal in the 80s, and multiple negotiations and trades since then. Once Israel, the original guys with a tough stance on terrorism, gave in – all bets were off.

Now mind you, other countries are adults and can make their own decisions – including giving the finger to terrorists always – but when Israel caved on this issue, it set a bad example and precedent for everyone else.

It is very tough for politicians to hold out when faced with families and a public who want their sons back.

JBS

Yeah, but if we did what Israel does then it would be completely different. It may not happen today, tomorrow or next week but it will happen. Let them go and they will be seen working at a souvenir stand along the Gaza strip, where a night time robbery turns bad.

Sapper3307

Nice lisp.

OldSoldier54

Hmmmmm … gay blade? How very inclusive.

MGySgtRet.

We are being led by a bunch of politically correct shit weasels. And both parties are guilty of it. The worst part is the bullshit rules of engagement which kill and wound our troops. This is sickening.

Ex-PH2

Oh, but ‘terrorist’ is such a harsh word, don’t you think?

And don’t you know that ‘we’ (that is the Royal ‘We’) don’t want you to think for yourselves?

We must use or invent euphemisms for the bad guys, e.g., misguided, unaligned, insurgent. That way, they will know what we truly think of them and what we really are. (Again, ‘we’ as the Royal ‘We’)

Pinto Nag

The term I use for them is ‘terrorist.’ The only other term that I would prefer to use for them is ‘corpse.’

ChipNASA

WHEN ARE WE *EVER* GOING TO HAVE BALLS IN THE WHITE HOUSE AGAIN?!?!?

/vote Zombie Reagan.

Arby

Sure we can. But, I for one am not going to vote for Hillary or Michelle.

Pinto Nag

Or Sarah. Or Mitt, either.

Mustang1LT

With Zombie Nixon as VP! Granted, Dickie was shady, but he was WAY smarter than our current VP.

Former 11B

This administration can pound sand, that Jordanian pilot was at serious risk for becoming Jihadi John’s next victim, and his country did what it had to do to get him home. In Bergdahls case, he was most likely not at risk and I think that makes his swap obviously more inappropriate.

That said, the only problem I really have with the Bergdahl swap is how many people we traded for his worthless ass.

A Proud Infidel®™

B. Hussein 0bama & Company run like the Titanic going full throttle through iceberg infested waters with no rudder whatsoever.

OWB

This is the kind of thing that they do regularly that just makes me angry. They act as if we are too stupid to know that they are lying and/or that we are not supposed to care that they are lying. And they seriously don’t seem to care. At all. We are supposed to shut up and pay for their living large.

They know no shame. They don’t care what we think.

E-6 type, 1 ea

Evidently one of the Dream Team released by Obama has already tried teaming up with his old buddies too. I’m surprised it took this long.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/29/obama-released-taliban-member-swapped-bowe-bergdah/

NHSparky

But this administration is hot cock to call veterans homegrown terrorists.

SMH.

Hondo

Mr. Schultz needs to do his homework. While not explicitly called out by the State Department as a terrorist organization, the Taliban appears to still be listed by Treasury as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization.

http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/sdnlist.txt

2/17 Air Cav

Was that SNL I just watched?

JBS

Agree. He seemed like he wanted to be any where else but right there, at that moment, trying to muddle through that answer.

2/17 Air Cav

At the end of hostilities, it is traditional to swap prisoners, says Bathhouse Bob. Oh. Okay. So, Obama unilaterally released five terrorists for a traitor. Why did he not release all of them if the deal was merely a traditional exercise? (The question is rhetorical byt feel free to answer anyway.)

Andy11M

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck then it’s a……what? It’s not a duck? Really?

W2

What a fucknut that administration guy is. How does he look at himself in the mirror in the morning knowing he is spewing BS like that? The man has no shame.

fatcircles0311

Another day another puke session in response to the domestic enemies currently in power.