New US Defense Bill will pay Taliban fighters who renounce insurgency

by Infidelesto on October 27, 2009 · Comments

Obama is about to sign a bill into law that will pay off the Taliban if they lay down their guns.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The defense bill that President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new provision that would pay Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said on Tuesday.

The provision establishes a program in Afghanistan similar to one in Iraq in which former fighters were reintegrated into Iraqi society, Levin told Reuters.

Reaching out to moderate members of the Taliban is a part of the Obama administration’s strategy to turn around the eight-year long war.

The difference between this strategy and the one in Iraq, is that we’re dealing with the TALIBAN.  This isn’t the local militia who simply don’t like the fact that you’re in their country. It’s the  same Taliban that harbored Al Qaeda for all those years.  The Same Taliban that bans women from going to school. The same Taliban that throws acid in the eyes of children to keep them from learning, the same Taliban that marry’s off their 9 year old children, the same Taliban that will MURDER you if you insult Mohammed, leave Islam or reveal that you’re gay.  These are not the same people as the ones in Iraq.

This is the same strategy that Dana Rohrabacher (Republican) was suggesting when I interviewed him at Western CPAC.

One of the worst ideas I’ve seen come out of Washington.

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  • Cao
    Karzai did that before Obama...Karzai is from the Pashtun south, and most of the Taliban is also from the south. It was a major mistake for us to switch interpreters from the Northern Alliance guys that speak both Pashto and Dari - to the Pashtun Taliban brothers that only speak pashto. But...Karzai, just like Obama - is a duel citizen - he was working in his brother's restaurant chopping tomatoes before he got this gig. Seriously...Karzai was letting the Taliban out of the prisons and giving them American money before Obama offered them bucks...Karzai needs to keep America pouring money into Afghanistan...it's all a puppet show.
  • psudrozz
    given the taliban's history of holding up their end of bargains (read Horse Soldiers as a good example), i am going to go out on a limb and say this is a needless waste of resources.

    by the way, how can our president implement this and still have no decision on mcchrystal's proposal?

    o, that's right, he won't get his hands dirty with this decision.
  • SirWilhelm
    I agree Infidelesto, the Taliban and it's Al Qeada allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan are much more fanatical than the insurgents in Iran. I'll bet they take the money and use it to buy new and better guns to use on our troops.
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