I certainly know that the top of this current Republican administration should be impeached, however, this particular story is misleading. Hekmatyar, as in “... sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ..., “ was the prime recipient of US weapons and financial aid in the US backed Afghan fight against the Russian occupation. So ... if the charged in this case are accused of sending him money, with two levels of indirection at that, then do we also charge all of our own government who did so directly and in vast sums when Hekmatyar was our praised, charismatic ally? He’s one of the Afghan warlords who have benefitted from our occupation, and yes, he certainly is our enemy now. By the way, it was the Taliban who drove Hekmatyar from the outskirts of Kabul in 1996 after the destruction he helped cause there. It was the US invasion that drove those two mutual enemies, neither of which is al Qaida, together. We reap as we sow, right? Things aren’t quite as straightforward as usually presented, and our media does a piss poor job of tying anything together. This prosecution will have a difficult time.

I certainly know that the top of this current Republican administration should be impeached, however, this particular story is misleading. Hekmatyar, as in “... sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ..., “ was the prime recipient of US weapons and financial aid in the US backed Afghan fight against the Russian occupation. So ... if the charged in this case are accused of sending him money, with two levels of indirection at that, then do we also charge all of our own government who did so directly and in vast sums when Hekmatyar was our praised, charismatic ally? He’s one of the Afghan warlords who have benefitted from our occupation, and yes, he certainly is our enemy now. By the way, it was the Taliban who drove Hekmatyar from the outskirts of Kabul in 1996 after the destruction he helped cause there. It was the US invasion that drove those two mutual enemies, neither of which is al Qaida, together. We reap as we sow, right? Things aren’t quite as straightforward as usually presented, and our media does a piss poor job of tying anything together. This prosecution will have a difficult time.

part of the West Michigan repug mafia--Dev­os,Prince,­Van Andel,Hook­stra,Ehler­--all right wing nuts and bottom feeders!!

When Little Georgie declared war on terrorism, he included nations and parties that abetted them. Well we have a Republican operative fund raising for alQaeda, so time to line up all goopers and pass out the Jim Jones Juice. Bye Bye!

This article leaves out the interesting point that Hekmatyar was once prime minister of Afghanistan, and was, before that, on the CIA’s payroll as a mujahedeen fighter against the Soviet occupation--yet another US friend who fell out of favor with our government, just as bin Laden eventually did, when these former GOP backed freedom fighters turned on their American financiers. Siljander’s sin is in moving to slowly to switch sides in the ever-changing chaos of post-Cold War alliances that explode with confusing and deadly blowback well into the new century. Failure to understand the diabolical history of U.S. involvement in distant lands leaves former allies and patriots labeled as terrorist sympathizers simply because they are no longer part of the latest economic development plan for the region.

Islamism inimical to our free society. As Americans, we must vigorously oppose it wherever it exists, without compromise.

Yet no one discusses the Bush family ties to terrorists­...I mean, afterall, he was just dancing with a Saudi King...and from which nation did those hi-jackers hail from...oh that's right, Saudi Arabia.

"When President Bush announced he is not on the trail of the money used over the years to finance terrorism, he must realize that trail ultimately leads not only to Saudi Arabia, but to some of the same financiers who originally helped propel him into the oil business and later the White House. The ties between bin Laden and the White House may be much closer than he is willing to acknowledg­e." --Wayne Madsen, 10/22/01

Sigh....no­thing surprises me any more, and that is sad! When will Americans wake up and realize that this "war" is a finanical boom for Republicans, and so long as they are allowed to rule at any level will continue to seek out profits, even if that means supporting it financiall­y....they are sucking and siphoning YOUR money right into their own pockets, it astounds me...it boggles the mind that someone would still say these people are worth a vote....th­e only thing I can understand, maybe, is that Americans have been held hostage for so long that we are experiencing first hand the effects of Stolkhom syndrome. Yikes!

Al Quaida has been GOOD for republicans. And thanks to republicans al Quaida is about the only market where the dollar is worth anything.

"God wanted me in." I see, whatever happens happens because God wanted it to. So, now God wants you to go to jail.

By their fruit you shall know them.

Above and beyond the obvious contempt for terrorism, this topic is so complex...

poltically, some intellectual muslims feel milton friedman and ron reagan admin are not compatible with faith abndf democracy.­..

HuffPo, sop being is unbiased. We all know that everyone in the republican party is a member of Al Qaeda.

The fact that Siljander has worked tirelessly promoting international understanding and goodwill between Christians and Muslims is reason enough for the administration to want to go after him. This seems to be going unnoticed.

' rollingdivision ' ?? Oh ! That's laughable ! ( It's as good as ' stiritup ' and all It's sockpuppets ).

You might as well hang a moniker on It that reads ' I disrupt progressive weblogs '.


You assholes feel compelled to violate peoples First Amendment Rights ?? Paid Shill... Mentally deranged, or just too stupid to realize the error of your lack of judgement !


More to follow. -ralph

I think the headline for this piece was ill-chosen. I don't like the Republican Party at all, but to call this evidence of an "Al Qaida Wing" of the party is too incendiary.
I do appreciate the irony of the situation, but fairness has to be applied even to Republicans!