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Taliban Propose Prisoner Swap of US Soldier for Gitmo Detainees (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Kathy Gannon. The Afghan Taliban is ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.

The offer follows this week’s official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.

In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl “is, as far as I know, in good condition.”

Suhail did not elaborate on Bergdahl’s current whereabouts. Among the five prisoners the Taliban have consistently requested are Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mullah Mohammed Fazl, a former top Taliban military commander, both of whom have been held for more than a decade. Read more from this story HERE.

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Rep. Gohmert claimed today that Obama is “sucking up to the Taliban.” What this means to the prisoner swap remains to be seen:

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Taliban ‘Embassy’ is a Surrender by Obama

By Joel B. Pollack. The decision by the Taliban to hoist their own “Islamic Emirate” flag above what was supposed to be just a “political office” in Doha, Qatar is more than just an embarrassment for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and more than a stumbling block in negotiations over U.S. withdrawal from the country. Rather, the provocative gesture unmasks that withdrawal for what it is: a surrender, and a betrayal of the war against terror.

As the smoke rose from Ground Zero, the U.S. and NATO made clear that unless the Taliban regime handed over Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, it would be removed. The Taliban, perhaps believing that the U.S. did not have the stomach for a fight, refused. And so they paid the price. Theirs was not to be a temporary removal, but a deterrent against any other regimes that would dare to host or assist anti-American terrorist groups.

The Taliban, along with Al Qaeda, were routed. But they sheltered in the border regions of Pakistan, regrouped and launched an insurgency against the new government of Afghanistan, NATO, and the United Nations. Then-Sen. Barack Obama blamed the Bush administration for expending military resources on Iraq that could have been used in Afghanistan and pledged that, as president, he would do the opposite. Read more from this story HERE.

Hasan Says He Killed for the Taliban, Exposes Obama’s False Workplace Violence Claim

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The Army major on trial for murdering 13 at Ft. Hood in 2009 plans to argue that he acted in defense of the Taliban. So much for the administration calling the shootings “workplace violence.”

One of the great scandals of the Obama administration has been its shameful designation of the Nov. 5, 2009, rampage at the Army base in Killeen, Texas, by Maj. Nidal Hasan as “workplace violence.”

While Hasan continues to draw his pay, this designation has denied the dead and the survivors the benefits they would have been entitled to had the attack been properly labeled an act of terror.

One would expect that when a self-proclaimed “Soldier of Allah” shouting “Allahu Akhbar” opens fire on dozens of American citizens and soldiers, killing and maiming as many innocents as he can, it would have been called an act of terror…

The White House so far has not commented on Hasan’s stunning announcement that he will defend not only himself but also “the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban.” In other words, he committed an act of terror on behalf of an enemy of the United States.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo Credit: AP

Video: John Bolton – Obama Administration Is Holding Talks With Taliban In Doha And Qatar

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Former UN Ambassador John Bolton was on with Greta Van Susteren tonight to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Bolton told Greta that he believes the Obama administration has been talking to the Taliban for some time now…

Watch video here:

https://youtu.be/T71kmgUNMeA

See a related story HERE where President Karzai of Afghanistan has alleged a conspiracy between the US and the Taliban.

Read more from this story HERE.

Afghan President Alleges US Conspiracy with Taliban to Keep International Forces in Afghanistan

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Photo Credit: AP

A series of security problems and fractured relations with Afghan leaders plagued Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s first trip here as Pentagon chief, including the Afghan president’s accusations that the U.S. and the Taliban are working in concert to show that violence in the country will worsen if most coalition troops leave.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford, quickly rejected the charges President Hamid Karzai made Sunday as “categorically false.” But the accusations were just the latest in a series of disputes that have frayed relations between the two nations as the U.S. works to wind down the war and turn the country’s security over to the Afghans.

Speaking to reporters shortly after Karzai made the comments, Dunford said the Afghan leader has never expressed such views to him but said it was understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the need to complete its mission with the Afghans’ move to exercise more sovereignty.

“We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we have shed too much blood over the past 12 years, we have done too much to help the Afghan security forces grow over the last 12 years to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage,” said Dunford.

Dunford’s comments came, however, soon after U.S. officials cancelled a news conference with Hagel and Karzai because of a security threat – just a day after a suicide bomber on a bicycle struck outside the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing nine Afghan civilians and wounding 14 others. Hagel heard the explosion from the safe location where he was meeting with Afghan officials but was never in danger.

Read more from this story HERE.

Afghan Leader Accuses US, Taliban of Collusion

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KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave as planned by the end of next year.

Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday — one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province — show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014.

“The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents,” he said during a nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women.

There was no immediate response from the U.S.-led military coalition, which is gradually handing over responsibility for securing the country to Afghan forces.

Karzai is known for making incendiary comments in his public speeches, a move that is often attributed to him trying to appeal to those who sympathize with the Taliban or as a way to gain leverage when he feels his international allies are ignoring his country’s sovereignty. In previous speeches he has threatened to join the Taliban and called his NATO allies occupiers who want to plunder Afghanistan’s resources.

Read more from this story HERE.

Top Pakistani Militant Commander Killed in US Drone Strike

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An American drone strike in Pakistan has killed top Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir, a senior intelligence official confirms to FoxNews.com.

Nazir, along with five close associates, was killed in a US drone strike, which took place near the town of Wana in Sar Kanda area of Birmil of South Wazristan Agency, one of seven federally administered tribal areas where militants thrive.

“The information we have received from our ground sources confirmed the death,” a senior Pakistan Army Intelligence official told FoxNews.com. “The vehicle in which the key Taliban war lord was traveling in was struck by two missiles.”

The Pakistani official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

The U.S. rarely comments on its secretive drone program, and Pentagon spokesman George Little said he could not confirm Nazir’s death, but he added that if true, it would be “a significant blow” to extremist groups in the region.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Military Personnel Who Contact Julian Assange, WikiLeaks are Subject to Death Penalty

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The US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States – the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency.

Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with “communicating with the enemy”, a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death.

The documents, some originally classified “Secret/NoForn” – not releasable to non-US nationals – record a probe by the air force’s Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London.

The counter-intelligence investigation focused on whether the analyst, who had a top-secret security clearance and access to the US military’s Secret Internet Protocol Router network, had disclosed classified or sensitive information to WikiLeaks supporters, described as an “anti-US and/or anti-military group”.

The suspected offence was “communicating with the enemy, 104-D”, an article in the US Uniform Code of Military Justice that prohibits military personnel from “communicating, corresponding or holding intercourse with the enemy”.

Read more from this story HERE.

American Taliban lawyer Appointed to Third-Highest Position in Obama’s Justice Department

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A lawyer who came to prominence for his full-throated defense of a subsequently convicted terrorist was quietly promoted to the No. 3 slot at the Department of Justice last month, a post that puts him in charge of the administration’s policy regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The move has raised red flags on Capitol Hill and elsewhere among national security stalwarts who argue that the promotion could imperil the country’s longstanding war on terrorism.

The Obama administration appointee at the center of the debate is Tony West, a longtime Justice Department lawyer who received national attention for his aggressive defense of John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban who is currently serving 20-years in prison for colluding with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and taking up arms against U.S. troops.

Late last month, President Obama appointed West as the DOJ’s acting associate attorney general, a posting that does not require Senate confirmation. He formally began the job on Monday.

As the department’s third in command, West is tasked with defending a broad array of legal matters, such as Obama’s controversial health care law and civil rights issues. He also will be in charge of “litigating national security cases, such as habeas corpus petitions brought by detainees at Guantanamo Bay,” according to the DOJ.

Read more from this story HERE.

Friday’s Taliban Raid Caused an Astonishing $200 Million in Damage

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Photo Credit: New Civil Engineer

An audacious Taliban attack on a heavily fortified base in southern Afghanistan did far more damage than initially reported, destroying or severely damaging eight attack jets in the most destructive single strike on Western matériel in the 11-year war, military officials said Sunday.

While other attacks have caused greater loss of life, the assault late Friday at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, one of the largest and best-defended posts in Afghanistan, was troubling to NATO because the attackers were able to penetrate the base, killing two Marines and causing more than $200 million in damage. “We’re saying it’s a very sophisticated attack,” said a military official here. “We’ve lost aircraft in battle, but nothing like this.”

The complex attack, which NATO officials said was conducted by three tightly choreographed teams of militants wearing American Army uniforms, was a reminder that the Taliban remain capable of serious assaults despite the “surge” offensive against them. Now the offensive is over, and nearly 10,000 American Marines have left Helmand Province, a critical stronghold for the Taliban, over the past several months.

Together with a rash of attacks by Afghan security forces against NATO troops — including two over the weekend that left at least six coalition service members dead — the Taliban have put new pressure on the American withdrawal plan, which calls for accelerated troop pullouts through 2014 while training Afghan forces to take over.

At the same time, tensions with the government flared Sunday as President Hamid Karzai condemned the deaths of Afghan women in airstrikes and criticized the continued American custody of hundreds of Afghan prisoners.

Read more from this story HERE.

Afghan Police Kill 4 US Soldiers Sunday, Taliban Claim Earlier Attacks Due to Anti-Mohammed Video

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Afghan police killed four American soldiers coming to their aid after a checkpoint attack Sunday, the third assault by government forces or insurgents disguised in military uniforms in as many days.

The escalating violence — including a NATO airstrike that killed eight Afghan women and girls gathering firewood — is straining the military partnership between Kabul and NATO as the U.S. begins to withdraw thousands of troops sent three years ago to route the Taliban from southern strongholds.

The attacks drew unusually strong criticism Sunday from the U.S. military’s top officer, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who called the problem of rogue Afghan soldiers and police turning their guns on allied troops “a very serious threat” to the war effort.

This year, 51 international service members have died at the hands of their Afghan allies or those who have infiltrated their ranks. At least 12 such attacks came in August alone, leaving 15 dead.

The surge in insider attacks is a sign of how security has deteriorated as NATO prepares its military exit from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The U.S. is days away from completing the first stage of its own drawdown, withdrawing 33,000 troops that were part of a military surge three years ago. The U.S. will remain with about 68,000 troops at the end of September.

Read more from this story HERE.