Qaradawi teaches Muslims that they are required to support the Taliban’s fight against U.S. forces. He preaches “gradualism,” a jihadist doctrine based on phases and pragmatism. The Taliban can count on him to lure the U.S. into a favorable deal that permits them to continue towards the goal of Sharia-based governance. Furthermore, the U.S. plans to release the five Taliban leaders into the hands of Qatar. Though the country houses a U.S. base and is referred to as an “ally,” it is far from a true partner in fighting terrorism. When the U.S. asked Qatar to become involved in Libya, it used its influence to help the Islamists.
The Taliban’s willingness to negotiate probably just reflects a shift in strategy, perhaps noticing how much more successful the Muslim Brotherhood has been than Al-Qaeda. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says, “During the past Taliban regime the government would make some hasty decisions, but now we are careful and deliberate.” Don’t mistake this for a change in ideology. In justifying the killing of foreign aid workers, Taliban commander Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said, “Our law is still the same old law which was in place during our rule in Afghanistan.”
While the U.S. engages the Taliban and President Karzai engages Iran and encourages anti-Americanism, the Afghan political opposition feels left out. Many of the opposition leaders belonged to the Northern Alliance that fought side-by-side with U.S. forces to oust the Taliban. They have issued a joint statement with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) complaining about not being included in the talks. They worry about a “back room deal among power brokers so they [the Taliban] would hold some kind of authority and power in an upcoming Afghan government.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) says that these ignored opposition leaders represent over 60% of the Afghan population.
“The Obama regime is choosing to now make concessions to the group that helped train for the 9/11 attacks and whose leader proclaimed on Afghan TV recently that the U.S. has been defeated and is now begging them for negotiations,” Rep. Gohmert said.
Supporters of the talks are quick to compare them to how the U.S. engaged the Sunni tribes of Iraq to turn them into partners against the insurgency, but the comparison is incorrect. The Iraqi tribal leaders were not motivated by a desire to establish Sharia-based governance, were backing the “stronger horse” and turned their guns on Al-Qaeda and the insurgents. These talks are not about crushing the Taliban. They’re about reaching a settlement with the Taliban. The same Taliban that, unlike the Iraqi tribes, uses truces to establish Sharia enclaves and sanitize the country of modernity, like burning cell phones, computers and televisions, as the Taliban just did in South Waziristan.
The Taliban are theologically committed to jihad and Sharia-based governance and it will not change until it abandons that belief system. The so-called “moderate Taliban” is only less extreme in its tactics. If the Obama Administration thinks that releasing five of the worst Taliban operatives is going to make the extremist group reconsider its jihad, then it is profoundly naïve.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.
To get the whole story on why the Obama administration empowers Islamists, read Jamie Glazov’s book, United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror.
Pages: 1 2
