Bush Changes Tune On Taliban

For a long time, one of the ancient tropes that emanated from the White House and its defenders was that at some point in the past, the Taliban was defeated. Nothing of the sort ever happened, but that was back when our neo-con taskmasters believed that "new realities" could be created by reading their dream journals aloud, and anyway, if we hadn't managed to eliminate the Taliban ... well, then, it would sure seem a little crazy to commit all of our military resources to fighting a war of choice in Iraq, wouldn't it? Someone might have to question the good sense of that, I guess!

Well, hard on the heels of his "So what?" confession that, yes, contra-all previous statements, al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq prior to the invasion, Bush is backtracking on one of the essential myths of his administration. At a press availability in Afghanistan, Bush told a reporter:

PRESIDENT BUSH: I respectfully disagree with you. The Taliban was brutalizing the people of Afghanistan. And they're not in power. And I just cited the progress that is undeniable.

Now, is there more work to be done? You bet. I never said the Taliban was eliminated, I said they were removed from power.

Oh, but no. President Bush has consistently depicted his accomplishments with regard to the Taliban as one of elimination. As early as July 4, 2002, the President was saying:

In Afghanistan we defeated the Taliban regime, but that was just the first step.

In May of 2003, Bush was braggin' with Central European foreign ministers:

In the battle of Afghanistan, nations from central and eastern Europe supplied soldiers and special forces and peacekeepers to help defeat the Taliban, to help destroy the terrorists and to bring freedom to the Afghan people.

Heck, in 2004, the elimination of the Taliban was part of the reason Bush gave George Tenet some medal or something!

Early in his tenure as DCI, George Tenet was one of the first to recognize and address the growing threat to America from radical terrorist networks. Immediately after the attacks of September the 11th, George was ready with a plan to strike back at al Qaeda and to topple the Taliban. CIA officers were on the ground in Afghanistan within days. Seasoned American intelligence officers, armed with laptop computers, Afghan clothes and a visionary plan, rode horseback with the fighters of the Northern Alliance, identified key targets for our military and helped to free a nation.

But look, maybe some of those armchair semanticists out there want to take issue with this contention, and parse the distance between "eliminate" and "defeat." That's okay. I think Sarabeth at 1115.org has the unparsable statement from Bush, circa September 2004:

[BUSH:] "And as a result of the United States military, Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free."

And no matter how you twist and turn the phrase, "Taliban no longer is in existence" parses out only to "Taliban was eliminated" and not "Taliban was removed from power".

Comments

[Carolab]

Taliban, al Qaeda were evacuated under Rumsfeld's orders along with Pakistani Military/ISI to the northern tribal regions/Waziristan, in 2003. Some of the insurgency in Helmand Province in southwest Afghanistan are Taliban sympathizers. News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups, primarily the Ishakzai and Alikozai, who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade. Helmand has a southern border with the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Many domestic and international observers have criticized Pakistan's efforts towards securing the border against Taliban insurgents, who are reported to use Balochistan as a training and staging area. Some reports cite the political alliance of Pakistan's military government with Balochistan's pro-Taliban Jamiat-e-U­lema-e-Isl­am party as the reason for Pakistan's reluctance to commit to greater security measures.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Helmand-Province

[Carolab]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j4RI3TVxVXWh211gX5PofwAeigEg

SAF, made up of some 53,000 troops drawn from around 40 nations, is trying to spread the influence of the weak centralised Afghan government across the country, but it is struggling to end a Taliban-led insurgency.

The task has been made more difficult by the fact that the Taliban, backed by al-Qaeda fighters and drug runners, has been using the lawless areas in Pakistan near the border as a rear base.

"There is not enough pressure on militants in the frontier provinces in Pakistan and as a result they are using these areas as safe havens in which to rest, reconstitute and then launch attacks into Afghanistan," Appathurai said.

"That is a concern for us," he said.

[lovable]

it simply amazes me that bush can lie and he has every right to so he can save his legacy BUT THE MEDIA NEVER CALLS HIM OUT ON HIS LIES . !!!!!!!! BEFORE U ASK A QUESTION LIKE THAT A REPORTER SHOULD DO HIS HOMEWORK !!!!!!!!!!!! THE TIME BUSH SAID THAT THE TALIBAN WAS DEAD SHOULD HAVE BEEN READ TO HIM. MY GOD THE REPORTERS TODAY A GREAT COWARDS . THEY ALL WANT TO BE PUNDITS . AND GOSSIP .

[realpolitic]

Bush is a liar and will say anything to further his agenda! This man knows no shame. He has restored "honesty and integrity" to the White House his minions now say. In reality, he is the slimiest, most untruthful president of all time. Words and phrases mean nothing to him. Honesty is for losers, I guess. He is above all that or so he seems to think.

[ThermoChemist]

Not to squabble over the nuances of words used like "defeated" vs. "destroyed" (not that Bush would really know the difference), but Bush DID say [repeatedly] that the Taliban was "out of business" -- forever..! So, he was wrong again (as usual). Yet another example of this Administration's ignorance and/or arrogance (!?!)

"Working with a fine coalition, our military went to Afghanistan, destroyed the training camps of Al Qaida, and put the Taliban out of business forever." [11/24/03]

"Because of American soldiers and our brave allies and friends, who have fought beside them, the Taliban is out of business." [3/15/02]

"Our first objective in the first theater against the war against terror has been achieved: The Taliban are out of business." [2/4/02]

"Now thanks to the United States and our fine allies, Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror, the Taliban is history, and the Afghan people are free." [8/14/03]

"Today, Afghanistan is a world away from the nightmare of the Taliban." [7/12/04]

[wotcanisay]

Yet another shoe which Bush ducks!

[WIpatriot]

Revisionist!

[eva belle]

Thank goodness for this...

Jason Linkins - Always Setting the Record Straight!

This ad is approved by me.

[tjboyo]

Seriously dude, could you be anymore of a frothing uber-liberal? To try and hang a plug on the President for his use of "defeated" versus "destroyed" in relation to the Taliban in Afghanistan is laughable. I'm certain if we looked we could split hairs with your various comments on a particular topic.

[Cogitoe]

You really want to base your entire argument on Bush's poor choice of words on one occassion? That's got to be the weakest argument I have heard on HuffPo this year. Bush is widely known to have significant troubles speaking English. All of the rest of your examples use the correct word "defeat" instead of "eliminate". The last thing Bush needs is for other people to put words into his mouth. You are wasting our time.

[the steamer]

There's a couple things in there, tough. It isn't just whether the Taliban was defeated or the Northern Alliance won but were the Afghan people freed?

[johnniec]

As much as I think he messed up over there, this article is fairly poorly written. As it partially points out, only the last quote back up the main argument at all. The rest is meaningless filler that actually helps backup Bush's point.

[wendynyc]

Brazen!

[seehowtheyrun]

What a lying sack of scum. Where are my shoes ?

[ElBruce]

2009 headline: Bush denies we invaded Iraq.

[greatlardini]

The absolute worst. Ever. Bar none.

[jshubbub]

I disagree with the whole "Bush is lying" sentiment. He's not lying. The truth is much sadder still. He actually believes what he's saying. Apparently, Bush is so deluded by the force of his own ego that he is utterly incapable of self-criticism. Instead, he is constantly re-envisioning his tenure into something that satisfies his need for everything to zero out. In his mind, he's not the problem. The problem lies elsewhere. It lies somewhere outside. If he can just say what he means exactly the way he means it then everyone will understand that he's not a bad guy. He did all right as president. Right?

Unfortunately, Georgie has never had a knack for saying exactly what he means exactly the way he means it. Now that seems especially true when he's talking to himself.

[research]

He Knows.

He's lying.

It's what GOP conservatives do.

[rmreddicks]

He knows he's lying. But he has to believe it (or have faith in it) so he can live with himself. You can see it in those lip gestures (grimaces?) he's always making when trying to speak. I'm sure all his cronies are telling him he did well - while not believing anything more than their bank accounts.

Simply because Bush will be leaving office is no reason for justice to not pursue him. Let someone like Fitzgerald have his way with him. Then we'll shoe the g.o.p.s.o.­b.

[11907281]

He shown so much moral fiber it would be impossible for he to be "lying". Noinch.

[morgan1]

I have to agree with you. Bush has always been in denial about "our" reality but it is very true he believes what he says which is even more tragic. Whether it is some chemical imbalance, some emotional set of bad wiring, he believes he has been successful, is a good person with convictions, high morals and standards. What he fails to get is how he has been used by very bright and corrupt people to get what they wanted. Rove recognized this about him back in Texas and they have rode this horse (Bush) all the way to the finish line. Him being sent to pasture is 8 years too late. The real tragedy is we are all paying the price for this Emperor Without Clothes.