By SUA Staff
The White House and the State Department are in the midst of discussing future moves with some very strange characters; people we have either been at war with for years, or worked ardently with the former Egyptian regimes to stymie in the past. At one time, no one would have ever dreamed of talks with the Taliban or the Muslim Brotherhood, so what is the current administration up to?
The Taliban
It has been revealed publically that the United States has been in talks with the Taliban regarding a peace deal since early 2009, legally or otherwise. Peace talks with an avowed enemy, an arch-enemy, a supporter and kin to al Qaeda is questionable at best. This appears to be why V.P. Joe Biden said the Taliban were not necessarily our enemy, despite the fact that at one time, they were at the top of the enemy list. It is clear that Obama and crew are more concerned with fulfilling campaign promises then doing what is in the best intersts of the USA.
America and her allies have been at war with the Taliban for ten long years, so why is there an objective to bring them to the peace tea table now? The 16 page National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan will give you a comprehensive summary and includes the various tribes that comprise the Taliban and al Qaeda.
U.S. lawyers and members of Congress expressed deep concern and opposition over the details of this endeavor with the Taliban and had even placed restrictions on the transfer of any prisoners from Guantanamo, let alone Taliban members in the National Defense Authorization Bill (NDAA). It is likely part of the reason for including key text in the NDAA. However, in defiance, the State Department and the White House have moved forward anyway, standing on their ‘signing statements’ as a spring board.
Despite the arguments over negotiating with a known terrorist, or terrorist support groups, the peace talks involve the release of Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. The question is, who are these detainees and how bad are they? Just who are these commanders that were selected for release? For a complete list of those on the list click here. In a Congressional hearing, Paul Stockton, a top Pentagon official testified that we are only at war with al Qaeda and not Islam or other radical Islamic factions, which apparently excludes the Taliban.
Noorullah Noori
Three specific commanders, Mullah Khair Khowa, Noorullah Noori, and Mullah Fazl Akhund have already been freed according to SUA sources, but why? These were the baddest of the bad; that’s why they have been in custody so long. In Afghanistan, dual roles and multiple allegiances are the norm and its not a surprise that some of these bad men were also political leaders and office holders. Some were in power along the border with Iran, a place where tribal relationships have no border distinction . It was estimated that five Taliban prisoners were set to be released and three appear to already be well on their way to Qatar where they will be living under asylum conditions with oversight from an unknown committee and enforcement.
Mullah Khowa was the interior minister and governor of Herat Province; the province abutting Iran. What is more that should be known is Khowa had ties with Iran as was presented in legal briefings in cases post 9-11. Please refer to page 85 and 86 here. Khair and Akhund were together after the Taliban fell, and were heading to Quetta when Pakistan intelligence picked them up and handed them over to the United States.
Also captured in the arrest was Mullah Abdul Naizi, who later escaped. It is alleged that the United States demanded that Khowa be part of the peace process after the negotiations, perhaps to minimize the betrayal of notorious Afghan warlord, General Dustam when he pledged to evacuate Fazl and Noori from the north . Instead, Dustam handed them over for eventual Guantanamo Bay detention . These three and the rest are members of an evil network , the type that would make a horror story author blanch. SUA staff and contacts tell us that any vicious description is a gross understatement; as these people are truly wicked men, men even the Russians feared from the outset of their long military occupational conflict in Afghanistan . If you are so inclined to understand their history, click here.
What may be most important about sending these Taliban commanders to Qatar is that it is more neutral concerning other Middle East conflicts allowing easier future diplomatic agreements. Additionally, many other players in the region will be footing some of the bill to securely house them in the lap of luxury. Are the White House and State also working an angle to include in any agreement in this release to consider it a trade for one Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 25 years old, captured and held by the Taliban since 2009?
Let’s examine some other facts. The Taliban and al Qaeda have worked together for ages and are presently seeking Pakistan’s help to take on the remaining American forces in Afghanistan. The quest is to force an earlier than scheduled exit of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan planned for 2014. One must ask the question, does al Qaeda get a voice at the negotiating table, either overtly or through the Taliban?
It is unlikely that the United States, with the help of NATO membership, will break any alliance between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States could easily get duped again with trade and peace deals as Afghanistan and Pakistan are essentially either hidden proxies of Iran and Russia or willing players, playing both ends against the middle. The relationship between the United States and Pakistan is broken and the probability for a make-up session is slim. With current upheaval between the government and the military in Pakistan, it continues to be less than likely that the relationship will warm once again.
A key player in all this chicanery is Vali Nasr, a professor at Tufts University, born in Iran. He is the designated point man tasked with implementing the peace talks with the Taliban, and has been an Obama administration adviser for some time. Nasr is their so-called expert on Middle East policy as well as Islam now. From 2009-2011, Nasr served the administration providing policy advice for Afghanistan and Pakistan and he predicted the Arab Spring and is aligned with the Council of Foreign Relations.
Vali Nasr - Obama Adviser on the Middle East and Taliban
Nasr is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the National Democratic Institute while being a Carnegie Scholar and holding a PhD from MIT. The National Democratic Institute is closely associated with the Democratic Party as well as Socialist International and it was one of their offices that was raided by police in Egypt in December.
Muslim Brotherhood
The State Department is also negotiating with the Muslim Brotherhood in addition to the Taliban. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have ignored and or gambled on Nasr’s advice regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as that of the Arab Spring in which we saw the fall of Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood and the administration is doing the same when it comes to war-gaming with Syria and Iran.
2012 is re-election year for Barack Obama and arranging a peace with the Taliban would have all the appearances of another check mark in the diplomatic ‘win’ column and the fulfillment of past campaign promises. This dovetails well with the killing of Osama bin Ladin, the assassinations of Anwar Awlaki, and the United States has formally exited Iraq as promised. On the surface, these are great talking points, but where has his foreign policy actually taken the USA? Additionally, since Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo, so by moving prisoners to another location in a ‘slight of hand’ move that may appease his base without actually closing the base and avoids the contentious military tribunals this administration and the Department of Justice staunchly oppose.
What ever the end story becomes, once the Taliban agreement is complete and how it plays out regarding Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is still up for debate. However, we clearly are witnessing a gathering of forces with new partnerships with strange bedfellows.
