Taliban – Page 2 – USA Gov Policy

The return of any American, particularly a member of the armed forces, from enemy captivity is always a cause of great joy. The U.S. government owes a profound obligation to its citizens to seek their recovery.

But there are substantial questions concerning the matter of Sgt. Bowe Berghdahl. The fact that the five terrorists traded for him included the Taliban army chief of staff, the senior military commander, the deputy intelligence chief, the Herat province governor, and a senior security official means that the forces of the vicious terrorist organization that brought down the World Trade Center have been immeasurably strengthened. More Americans will die on the battlefield and conceivably around the world as well as a result.

The matter has been further muddied by odd Administration statements concerning Sgt. Berghdahl, who apparently was AWOL at the time of his capture. Their comments that he “served his country with distinction” appear to be incorrect, as was a statement calling him a U.S. Marine instead of a soldier.

And then there is the matter of federal law. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) notes that Section 1035 of the National Defense Authorization Act requires both an assessment of the danger posed by released terrorists, and a 30-day advanced notification to specified Congressional committees. HASC also stressed that Section 8111 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act also prohibits funds to be used for the release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.
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Casting a pall over the entire incident is the unexplained reluctance of the White House to pursue the release of another American service member held captive, in Mexico. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi accidentally crossed into Mexico after being unable to make a U-turn. In his truck were with legal, licensed firearms. Common sense dictated that he be allowed to get back on the correct highway, but for reasons not adequately explained Mexican authorities continue to incarcerate him.

Concerned Americans posted a petition on the White House web site. But this matter, which could be readily remedied by normal diplomatic contacts, remains unresolved and unaddressed by a presidential administration oddly aloof from the issue.

Both the Berghdahl and Tahmooressi matters require a prompt and thorough explanation from Mr. Obama.

Quick Analysis

Putin’s Saber Rattling

Earlier this week, President Biden reversed his 2022 decision, authorizing the provision of antipersonnel land mines to the Ukrainian government. It follows an earlier Administration authorization to allow the use of an advanced American missile system capable of striking as deep as 100 miles inside Russian territory. The US election season may be ending, but both Russia and the West show no indication of stepping down the conflict. Russian propaganda continues to swell as the Kremlin increases its threats to use nuclear weapons against the West. Last week Andrey Sushentsov, program director of the pro-Kremlin think tank Valdai Discussion Club (VDC), published an article on growing nuclear tensions in the region. Official Russian language in the last few years has been threatening. Since the US election, rhetoric like that in the Sushentsov article, has approached the level of nuclear blackmail. The VDC article’s main theme centers on Russia’s intent to directly confront the West militarily if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) becomes involved in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. “On the one hand, these threats are intended to frighten the West, but on the other, Russian propagandists themselves are starting to believe in the inevitability of escalation,” according to Ksenia Kirillova of the Jamestown Foundation. On November 11, Sushentsov wrote that “The conflict will reach a completely new level, with unpredictable consequences for Europe and the entire world.” Kirillova points out that Putin’s distorted image of the world is divorced from reality and is causing the Kremlin to issue demands that are impossible to fulfill. Financial and other Russian resources needed to support Putin’s war are growing scarcer at the same time. This week the Kremlin announced a reduction of payments to its soldiers. Recently North Korea acknowledged it was sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine as Putin is running out of bodies to use as cannon fire. The war is not going well for Russia. One question floating around the Washington intelligence community is whether Putin will act out of desperation before President-elect Trump assumes office. In recent months the Russian propaganda machine is spewing out materials from fairly reputable analytical platforms inside the country. Kirillova says that “Kremlin ‘experts’ do not conceal that such threats are only intended to break the West psychologically, as they themselves are not prepared for full-scale nuclear war.” Despite Russia’s lack of preparation for an all-out war with the West, the expanding nuclear rhetoric carries with it an increase in the threat of a full-scale war in multiple theaters of operation. In June 2023 a founder of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Sergey Karaganov, called for “delivering a pre-emptive strike of retaliation” on Poland to force the West to surrender. In the previous month, Dmitry Suslov, a direct of research programs at the policy center proposed organizing “a demonstration nuclear explosion” aimed at intimidating the West. In September, President Putin announced a reappraisal of Russian nuclear doctrine after speaking earlier in the year at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and jokingly calling Suslov a “scary person.” Pavel Baev, writing in the European Daily Monitor, says “Putin intends his announcement to mark an escalation of nuclear brinkmanship and influence the proceedings of future Ukrainian peace efforts.” Putin is expanding the list of environmental conditions that are acceptable for using a nuclear weapon and incorporating it into Russian military doctrine. Baev adds that “The ups and downs of Russian brinkmanship are disconnected from the kinetic battles of the war, correlating instead with Ukrainian peace offensives, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first peace summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.” Despite the increase in vitriolic language, in a You Tube video published a week before the US presidential election, Karaganov openly assured the West the primary goal of the escalation is to break the American spirit and that of the West, not outright nuclear war. By Election Day in the US, with political prognosticators predicting a win for former president Trump, Karaganov changed his tune and called for an increased role in nuclear deterrence. Kirillova points out that Western concessions to Russia are unlikely to reduce the risk of nuclear escalation. The distorted reality inside the Kremlin continues to push that President-elect Trump is an adherent of “world government,” that Ukraine will create a nuclear weapon, and Russia must prepare for a nuclear conflagration to achieve its ambitions for a new world order. President-elect Trump has indicated he will not agree to concessions that destabilize Europe, the Middle East or other regions. Going forward a strong US foreign policy may be the most stabilizing course the West can count on to restrain Putin and his intent to rebuild the Russian empire. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay

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