The Taliban announced the formation of a new government on Tuesday and it didn’t surprise anyone when it named a member of a U.S.-designated terrorist group and former detainees at the Guantanamo prison camp as high-ranking members.
The Taliban had promised to form an “inclusive” and more “moderate” Islamic government. The cabinet announced yesterday contains no women, no members of the former government, and is filled with terrorists wanted in the U.S., people on sanctions lists, and hard-line Islamists.
How can any civilized nation recognize a cut-throat regime like this one?
The lineup of senior positions, which includes former Guantanamo inmates, members of a US-designated terror group and subjects of an international sanctions lists, presents the first snapshot of how the Taliban’s leadership of Afghanistan will begin to take shape.
Like many in the Taliban’s incoming cabinet, interim Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund is under United Nations sanctions. A long-time Taliban member, he has been leader of the group’s Shura, or Leadership Council, for about two decades.
The Haqqani Network, a terrorist group with ties to Afghanistan’s criminal underworld, is well represented in the new government. Five ministers in the new government are part of the Haqqani crime family, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the network’s leader, who will be the acting interior minister. He will be in charge of keeping a lid on dissent and making sure Afghanistan’s women don’t cause a stink about losing their rights.
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Several new ministers served time at Guantanamo prison and were released as part of a swap for U.S. Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl.
Four men receiving senior positions in government had previously been detained by the US at Guantanamo Bay, and were released as part of a prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in 2014: The Taliban appointed Noorullah Noori to acting minister of borders and tribal affairs, Abdul Haq Wasiq as acting intelligence director, Khairullah Khair to acting minister of information and culture and Mohammad Fazil Mazloom to deputy minister of defense.
A fifth detainee released in the 2014 trade, Mohammed Nabi Omari, was appointed as the new governor of the southeastern province of Khost last month, according to Taliban.
Barack Obama’s chickens have all come home to roost.
It’s interesting to watch how the two-faced Taliban is manipulating the Western media. Every single promise its leaders made when they swept into Kabul three weeks ago has been broken or shown to be a lie. They have obviously learned their lessons on media relations from left-wing radicals in the West, who talk like moderates and then go out and act like hair-on-fire extremists.
“Following today’s news of the exclusion of women in the new Government announced by the Taliban, I join with many around the world in expressing my disappointment and dismay at a development that calls into question the recent commitments to protect and respect the rights of Afghanistan’s women and girls,” said Pramila Patten, the acting head of UN Women, urging the Taliban to comply with its obligations under constitutional provisions and international treaties to guarantee equality to all citizens.
“I further note with serious concern the reported use of force by authorities in Kabul against peaceful protestors, mostly women, who were demanding the equal enjoyment of their rights. These actions reinforce and validate concerns about restrictions being placed in practice on women’s human rights, including their right to participate in public and political life,” she said.
They’ve certainly learned a lot in 20 years.
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