The Obama administration is set to release Taliban leaders with operational ties to Al Qaeda from Gitmo, even before the heinous Taliban has agreed to come to the table for "peace talks". The war criminals set for release are hardcore jihadist leaders who fought on the fields of Islamic imperialism and killed US and coalition troops.
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Why would the Obama administration release these mass murderers? For Taliban promises to engage in peace talks? Obama will get nothing in return.
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Catherine Herridge of Fox News reports that a senior U.S. official has confirmed that Mullah Mohammed Fazl is among the prisoners being considered for release.
Marc Thiessen writes at the American Enterprise blog on Fazi the ghazi:
So who is this Mullah Mohammed Fazl?
Last year, WikiLeaks released a trove of documents it dubbed the Gitmo Files with assessments of hundreds of Guantanamo detaineesincluding Fazl. According to his official record, Fazl is a war criminal who has massacred thousands of people, has close relationships with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, is involved in narcotics trafficking, and is so senior in the Taliban hierarchy that he once threatened the Talibans supreme leader, Mullah Omar. He is considered to pose a high risk to American forces and our allies if released.
Here is the official U.S. government assessment of the man Barack Obama wants to put back on the streets (emphasis is mine):
Detainee is assessed to be a HIGH risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests, and allies
. Detainee is an admitted senior official of the Taliban government and army and was last assigned to the position of Deputy Minister of Defense. Detainee also served as Chief of Staff of the Taliban Army and a commander of the 22nd Division. Detainee is wanted by the UN for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites. Detainee had operational associations with significant al-Qaida and other extremist personnel. Detainee wielded considerable influence throughout the northern region of Afghanistan and his influence continued even after his capture. If released, detainee would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with anti-Coalition militias (ACM) participating in hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan
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Detainee is wanted by the UN for possible war crimes while serving as a Taliban Army Chief of Staff and was noted having a long record of human rights abuses. Detainee was implicated in the murder of thousands of Shiites in northern Afghanistan during the Taliban reign. When asked about the murders, detainee and [ANOTHER DETAINEE] did not express any regret and stated they did what they needed to do in their struggle to establish their ideal state.
Detainee protected a subordinate accused of mass murder. Detainees deputy commander, Mullah Dadullah Lang, aka (Commander Dadullah), was reportedly responsible for the murder of 500 Shia, Hazara, and Uzbek civilians, including men, women, and children, during the winter of 2000. Dadullah Langs troops seized the people near Sar-i-Pol, AF, trucked them to Baghlan Province, AF, killed them, and threw the bodies into gorges
. After Mullah Omar found out about the massacre, he ordered Dadullah Lang to be disarmed and brought to Kandahar to explain his actions. Detainee vouched for Dadullah Lang, reportedly telling Supreme Leader of the Taliban Mullah Muhammad Omar that if Dadullah Lang was disarmed, detainee would disarm Mullah Omar. (Analyst Note: Detainee was directly subordinate to Mullah Omar. Detainees threat directly against the Supreme Leader of the Taliban indicates he held great authority and power within the Taliban)
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Detainee was reportedly involved in Taliban narcotics trafficking activities
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[Another detainee] stated detainee has continued to spread anti-Afghan government and anti-US messages among detainees at JTF-GTMO [and] lists detainee among several detainees at JTF-GTMO who would likely pose a threat to the Afghan government it released
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Detainee was directly connected to several extremist organizations and facilitated programs supporting the Taliban, including al-Qaida and IMU
. Detainee has specific information relating to several extremist organizations that provide support to the Taliban. Detainee also probably has significant information on Taliban and al-Qaida personnel still active today.
This is the man the Obama administration wants to releasenot in return for any concession on the part of the Taliban, mind you, but as a confidence building measure before any talks even begin. Based on this assessment, Mullah Mohammed Fazl is a mass murderer who should not be released under any circumstances.
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As Michael Rubin, former political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, has noted, U.S. attempts to engage the Taliban from 1995 to 1999 represent engagement for its own sakewithout any consideration given to the behavior or sincerity of an unambiguously hostile interlocutor. Rubin, now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, details how U.S. State Department officials were repeatedly misled by Taliban officials harboring Osama bin Laden even after al-Qaeda attacked two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. As Rubin noted, face-to-face meetings with Americans served only to reinforce the Taliban gangs pretensions as a government rather than as an umbrella group for terrorists.
