The Taliban Say Guantanamo Closure "Positive Step"

[tekisui]

Source: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - The Taliban told U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday that his plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison camp was a "positive step" but peace was only possible if he withdraws U.S. forces from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Taliban, toppled in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, also told the new president that sending more troops to Afghanistan "and the use of force against the independent peoples of the world, has lost its effectiveness."

A day after being sworn in last week, Obama ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where prisoners have been detained for years without charge, some subjected to interrogation that human rights groups say amounted to torture.

Obama has ordered a full review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where he has pledged to boost troop levels and take the initiative against the growing Taliban insurgency.

Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the remote, mountainous border region of Pakistan near Afghanistan.

"Obama's move to close Guantanamo detention center is a positive step for peace and stability in the region and the world...," the Taliban said in a message posted on Islamist websites, monitored by the U.S.-based terrorism monitor, the SITE Intelligence Group.

The message said Obama had to reverse the policies of former President George W. Bush in Afghanistan and the Islamic world.

"If Obama is right and, according to his words, wants to open a new page based on peaceful interaction built on mutual respect with the Islamic world, the first thing he has to do is to stop and annul all these procedures, which were created according to Bush's criminal policy," it said.

more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50Q82P20090127
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:popcorn:

[Hugabear]

1. You know what? They're absolutely right on this issue.

Sending more troops into Afghanistan will accomplish nothing, except to create more hatred towards the US in the area. How many more civilians are we going to kill in our quest to find Bin Laden?

We should have never gotten involved militarily. By using diplomatic and economic pressure, we could have probably gotten them to hand him over by now. It worked with Libya, they eventually handed over the PanAm bombing suspects.

[LakeSamish706]

3. Absolutely dead on... n/t

[razors edge]

2. Leaving the heads on your female children

who go to school would be a positive step for these fuckers. I say we pull out, wait for them to return from Pak, and hit em again.

So what if the CIA and MI5 loose a few heroin dollars in the process.

[DCBob]

4. The Taliban are not part of civilized society..

[tekisui]

7. Of course not.

They are opportunistic in this 'message'. I read this, hopefully, similarly to the PR campaign of al-qaeda: They are weakened militarily and are more reliant on political messaging.

[Beacool]

5. Nice to know that the Taliban approves.........

:eyes:

[tekisui]

6. File this under non-helpful endorsements.

[MadBadger]

8. The taliban has some nerve

They can fuck off.

[tekisui]

9. My question is: When did they start doing PR?

[cali]

14. Well, they did do some in the nineties.

but that's a good question. If there's a more loathsome group of homicidal nutcases in the world, I don't know what it is.

[cbc5g]

10. Seriously, the Taliban talking to us about human rights?

We did this for ourselves and our rule of law, they can go fuck themselves.

[EraOfResponsibility]

18. Exactly, we didn't do that shit for them n/m

[Clio the Leo]

11. So that means that we now have MORE support from the Taliban....

..... than we do from the religious right.

I hope the CIA/FBI/Secret Service/whomever is keeping an eye on them folks.

Ya know what. We should just stop letting wingnuts board commercial airplanes. Better safe than sorry. :)

[SKKY]

12. Who gives a fuck what the Taliban think or say?

They throw acid on girls faces who are trying to go to school. ACID ON GIRLS FACES PEOPLE! LITTLE GIRLS!!! Does anyone think that would stop if we left???

[nodramamama]

13. Why do we assume that this report is truthful?

Why has no one raised the possibility that a US official posted that message in order to tell the media that the Taliban hearts Obama, thus creating a new talking point against the closure of Guantanamo?

This message is anonymous. Not one of us know the name of the alleged Taliban official or whatever they want to call him/her, who posted this alleged message. We are not given the name of the Website either. Yes, it would be foolish to make a terrorist website famous, but it is also possible that either this website does not exist or is being infiltrated by US sources.

That's the way covert ops work.

[smoochpooch]

15. Here's a good article from Rolling Stone a couple months ago that

says negotiating with the Taliban may be the only wayout of Afghanistan.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23612315/how_we_lost_the_war_we_won

It's a pretty long article (12 pages). Just skip to the last 2 pages if you don't have time to read the whole thing. Good stuff.

[KakistocracyHater]

16. psy-ops

why is it they can take notes but they never drag the leaders into court? Whatever.

[Danger Mouse]

17. The Taliban can go fuck themselves sideways.