The Taliban Has Reformed and is Now a "Resilient Insurgency" - How Convenient

The latest out of Washington is a report from the Pentagon that states that the Taliban in Afghanistan has reformed and is now a "resilient insurgency." There are two scenarios now for the Bush White House, and neither is good. The first scenario is the fact that this report is complete and utter bullshit. The second is that Washington has allowed the Taliban to reform into a strong group under the armed forces' watch and the attention diverted to Iraq for a war based on incredibly horrible intelligence has more than likely detracted from resources that may have been more useful in a combat zone predicated on better intelligence (we knew Osama bin Laden was there; who do you think built the tunnel system for him in Tora Bora?).

Neither scenario is good for Bush and, in turn, McCain. The timing of this report, however, is very interesting. As the Democrats pander to stubborn and bitter Hillary supporters who would rather see John McCain in office than vote for a black man who actually has a better shot than Clinton at winning in November, John McCain's campaign has hit a few roadblocks. After a Newsweek poll stating that Obama was surging in the polls, McCain was probably scrambling for some good press. What is not good press is the fact that one of McCain's top advisers, Charlie Black (a longtime GOP operative) saying that a terrorist attack on the United States would be advantageous for McCain come November. So it looks like some in the McCain camp are hoping for innocent Americans to die just so McCain can reach the Oval Office.

However, the process of going to a nation, overthrowing the government, funding anti-American extremists and simply waiting for the results 20 years later (read: our Cold War operations in the Middle East) is simply too lengthy. The next best thing? Come up with a report - whether true or not - saying that the threat of terrorism is still high (9/11, which was politicized beyond belief by Rove and Company, seems to have outgrown its usefulness for the neo-cons) and people should be afraid. That way, no innocent Americans die (sorry Charlie Black) and people will still be scared.

But there are repurcussions to these actions. The first is, if this is exposed as a lie, the Bush camp is seen in even worse light (though somehow the man stays in office) and McCain, who will more than likely tout this report in the context of his foreign policy experience (though one of his most famous political moves involved aiding a savings and loan scandal douchebag in the 1980s with the Keating Five, which was 100% domestic), will suffer in the polls. The second, and more likely, is that this is not exposed as a lie and people will believe it. People will look over the fact that America's presence in Afghanistan has not deterred the Taliban from reforming right under their noses and that we should have learned a lesson from the 1980s. All they will see is that the Taliban (who have arguably done less for Osama bin Laden than the United States) is reforming and that America is in danger. McCain will slip up by saying Barack Hussin Obama and the typical American - who has absolutely no concept of what Islam is - will correlate Obama's middle name with the Taliban and chaos will ensue.

Seriously, though. Think about the timing of this report in the context of what is going on now. The Democrats are trying to move forward from a divisive primary (we have Hillary to blame for that) and McCain's campaign is shooting itself in the foot. It is at this moment that the Pentagon decides to release this report. I don't know what to think of it, given the shoddy intelligence coming out of that five pointed building (five pillars of Islam - conspiracy theory!) in the recent years. Yet still the fourth branch eats it up. Peace.

Photos - Defense Secretary Robert Gates (a major player in CIA Cold War covert ops in the Middle East) (CNN), Charlie Black - put his ass on a no-fly list (LA Times), The Pentagon (Pentagon)