[PJ Media] One good place to start is where Brad Thor does: forget about the Taliban, they weren't holding Bowe. He was a captive of the Haqqanis, which Thor nicely describes as a mixture of terrorism and mafia, "80% Sopranos and 20% Al Qaeda." He then asks an important question: what did the Haqqanis get for Bergdahl? That's exactly right, because four of the Guantanamo terrorists were indeed Taliban, and hence low priority for the Haqqanis. So?
So we need to ask how much money the Haqqanis got, or how many weapons, or maybe diamonds, I don't know. We probably arranged for the payment--it's illegal to do it directly, I believe (although CIA has done it, as has the military, usually under the guise of "providing information")--and the Qataris may have thought it was a good investment. But something of value had to be given to the Haqqanis. I don't believe they turned over Bowe as a favor to the Taliban.
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Why would Obama work to get Burgdahl released? If Brad Thor's narrative is correct, then one has to ask what was in it for Obama and the Party? Elections are coming up and the narrative of "leaving no man behind" is a good one. Of course there is Benghazi which counters that narrative.
[DAWN] EVEN if a split within the Tehrik-e-Taliban signalled a success of the Pak state's carrot-and-stick policy -- and indeed an opportunity to wean away pro-peace elements from hardliners in the Taliban ranks -- a new challenge emerged on Friday.
After weeks of a 'surgical' military operation in North Wazoo Agency reportedly aimed at crushing foreign krazed killers, the 'pro-state' Hafiz Gul Bahadur ...a member of the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Waziris. Educated in a Deobandi madrassa located in Multan, he is affiliated with the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party. Upon the formation of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in December 2007, he was announced as the group's overall naib amir under Baitullah Mehsud, who was based in South Wazoo, but has largely distanced himself from the TTP due to rivalries with the Mehsuds and disagreements about the TTP's attacks against the Pak state.. , commander of the Taliban in NWA (Shura Mujahideen), said he was revoking the peace treaty he had signed with the Pak government in 2008.
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/02/2014 00:00 ||
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I find that if I replace the word "Taliban" with the word "mafia" in articles like this that it clarifies things for me. What does pro-government mafia mean? Probably not what the Pak government thinks it means. What does a peace deal with the mafia mean? I can't see it.
[Ynet] As many as 11,000 foreigners are fighting in Syrian civil war today; 3,000 of them come from Western countries. Intelligence officials fear training they received from terror groups will help them carry out attacks in their countries of origin upon their return.
The first suicide kaboom of an American in Syria has created a renewed debate on the growing presence of imported muscle in the civil war, and the danger it poses to Western countries.
According to intelligence officials, more than 70 Americans have arrived in Syria in order to fight against Bashir al-Assad's regime. One of them, Moner Mohammad Abusalha, became last week the first American jacket wallah in the country.
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