Frist wants to cut and run from Taliban?

October 3, 2006

I haven’t the foggiest idea what Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was thinking when he suggested we stop trying to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, and start trying to legitimize them.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring “people who call themselves Taliban” and their allies into the government.

The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.

“You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. “And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful.”

Let me get this straight. As far as Bill Frist is concerned, the Taliban, which sponsored and housed al Qaeda before we invaded Afghanistan, can’t be defeated militarily. We should instead, Frist believes, bring the Taliban (i.e., terrorists) into the Afghan government.

And Republicans think Dems support “appeasement”?

Now, Frist said his comments were taken out of context, but his defense doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Here’s Frist, backing away from the AP report:

Having discussed the situation with commanders on the ground, I believe that we cannot stabilize Afghanistan purely through military means. Our counter-insurgency strategy must win hearts and minds and persuade moderate Islamists potentially sympathetic to the Taliban to accept the legitimacy of the Afghan national government and democratic political processes.

Of course, that’s not what Frist told the AP. He said he wants to bring “people who call themselves Taliban” — and their allies — into the government. Conservatives aren’t buying the new spin, and frankly, I don’t see how anyone could.

It’s practically, by definition, a cut-and-run policy. We gave it a go fighting the terrorists who contributed to 9/11; things aren’t going well; so let’s sit down with the terrorists and ask them to share power. The same terrorists we drove from power — the same terrorists who empowered bin Laden — would be welcomed back into the fold.

If Frist were a Dem, Republicans wouldn’t be able to shout “defeatocrat” loud enough. Instead, it’s the top Republican in the Senate and a likely presidential candidate. Wow.

The Dems are already busy attacking the GOP for some of the other scandals, but if they decided to take on Frist, the line is pretty easy: we want to finish the job in the country that deserved to be attacked, while the Republicans want to help return al Qaeda’s friends to power. Who’s stronger on national security?

Here’s another question: given recent events, is it possible Republicans are trying to lose the elections? I’m only half-kidding. The fact that the GOP isn’t competent or ethical is hardly news, but as a rule, these guys are great at politics. All of a sudden, they’re the gang that can’t shoot straight — on Foley, the NIE, the “comma,” Woodward revelations, the Taliban, etc.

I find it hard to believe the Republicans are intentionally throwing the campaign cycle, but if they were, wouldn’t it look a bit like this?

How about “Retreat-I-can” ????????

How anyone ever let this moron cut them open with a knife is beyond me. I’d love to know how many times he got sued. Incompetence on this level is just tooooooooo much not to have spilled over into every area of Senator Kitten Murderer’s life.

  • I think the hidden gem in Frist’s remarks is that the Taliban is so strong and so popular. He must have been pretty shook up by what he saw there to go against the Republican rhetoric of the relative unimportance of the Taliban.

  • If Frist wants to embrace the Taliban so much, then by all means—let him go the the mountains of Pakistan and do so. If we weren’t so busy maintaining 130-some-thousand troops in Iraq, we would have the military means effectively trounce this tin-pot mullah.

    It sounds to me as if Frist is thinking along the lines of, “If we can’t have Theofascist Dominionism in America, maybe we can have it in Afghanistan….”

  • Afghanistan was only ever a side-show to the neocons. It never fit into the PNAC plan. The only reason we went in there in the first place was because the attacks on 9/11 were the enabler for the PNAC neocon agenda. Once we moved on to Iraq, Afghanistan may as well have dropped off the face of the earth.

    Afghanistan? No oil. No threat to Israel. No interest.

  • Tom C – Ever hear of “The Peter Principle?”
    This guy was probably a competent surgeon, but that’s a whole different set of skills than a politician needs.
    If I recall, he’s from a old money family, and they groomed him for this career after his medical one.
    If the Republican’t party (can’t win a war) could foist GWB onto America as presidential, they could present this guy a competent politician. It doesn’t make it the truth, but they know how well propaganda works in today’s America.
    Athiests forgive me, but God help us all.

  • That’s clever, Tom Cleaver.

    Frankly, I’m not opposed in principle to political solutions. If we can give the Taliban what they want without sacrificing what we want (i.e. a stable, liberal democracy in Afghanistan), then fine. That’s intelligent. More power to Frist for contemplating realistic answers.

    Of course, it’s directly at odds with his earlier rhetoric condemning any such notion as “appeasement.”

    If Frist were a Dem, Republicans wouldn’t be able to shout “defeatocrat” loud enough.

    Damn straight.

  • Frist is not going to be running for president because of the ongoing SEC investigation. The only reason its dragging its feet is because the board is 3/2 repuke.

    He is not running for reelection so it is useless to even condemn his outragous suggestions. Hes toast already. Case closed.

  • I think it’s symptomatic of people in a party who don’t necessarily agree with (or care about) the party’s platform and talking points, yet go along with whatever the party says in order to stay in power. It’s like how W can sometimes get so far afield in his comments when they’re unscripted, such as saying that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, then quickly qualifying that by saying that Iraq didn’t *order* 9/11 attacks. But it was enough of a slip for us to know that he was accidentally off the script, and for us to know what he truly felt and believed. Sooner or later it was going to slip.

    Because republicans are not allowed to speak their own opinions, and must toe the party line at all times, it is inevitable that slips such as this will come out and we will see what they’re really thinking. Lately we’ve been wondering – what is going on? I think they haven’t gone mad, they’re just showing their true selves. Like the man who suddenly is out of breath from holding his stomach in at the beach, the republican leadership is exhaling in spite of itself, and everything it’s practiced over the past 6 years.

  • I believe that the Republicans are suffering from too many holes in the dike.

    – the fracturing of their once-solid coalition — the theocrats and the robber-barons — has begun to affect their message

    – their glorious little war, Iraq, has turned into a vicious meat grinder that swallows troops and money and produces nothing tangible

    – the honor and true ethos of the Republican is beginning to show: when caught with his hand in the public till, he will simply roll over and squeal to reduce his sentence. Last one to deal gets the most years…

    – the feeling in the nation that things just aren’t right are permeating the Republican power structure and if anyone can feel the Zeitgeist, it’s their re-election committees. They know a blood bath is coming and they are attempting to limit the damage

    The only thing that really scares me is knowing that Rove and Co. are backed into a really tight corner and La Cage Aux Foley isn’t helping things. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ll attempt to use to get people to stop paying attention to this. War with Iran is about the only thing big enough to get this off the media radar…

  • Losing the elections means hopping off the plunder train. Republicans would never do that.

  • They aren’t trying to throw the election. To much legal exposure to the top dogs if they don’t have iron control of Justice Dept. and all oversight committees.

    What actually happened was that they got lazy and sloppy. There have signs of this for a long time – they barely go through the motions of concealing their corruption and mendacity. They are so used to having a compliant media and totally defanged oversight apparatus that they have no idea how to even put on a veneer of propriety.

    Frist is a disaster at politics as well as at governing. In way over his head, he bounces from gaffe to gaffe, and can’t deliver even the easy votes for the administration. Once again we are reminded that whenever the GOP accuses the Democrats of anything (“cut and run”) it is because they are guilty of it themselves.

  • His position looks ridiculous in light of the GOP’s refusal to see the same truth in Iraq, but he may well be right that Afghanistan is lost. The adventure in Iraq distracted us and we missed our chance.

    Incidentally, the GOP has an exit strategy for Iraq. Here it is: Keep America’s hand shoved firmly into the Iraqi blender until the Democrats take over the presidency. The Dems will withdraw, and Iraq will continue to founder. The GOP will point to the result, ignoring their own responsibility for creating it, as further proof that they’re the tough party that can make the hard decisions. It’ll cost them one presidential term, but they’ll come through okay in the end.

  • As far as I can see they cut and ran in Afghanistan a long time ago. This is like watching a slow train wreck, Make peach with the Taliban? Sure, why not? Forget about women’s rights, freedom, and normal human rights. Let OBL live to fight another day. The stupidity of these folks knows no bounds.

  • Original Text –

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring “people who call themselves Taliban” and their allies into the government.

    The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.

    “You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. “And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful.”

    Revised Text –
    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the IRaq war against Al Queda guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring “people who call themselves insurgents” and their allies into the government.

    The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Iraqi fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.

    “You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Iraqi stronghold of Basra. “And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful.”

    I will not sit idle while the Senate Majority Leader badmouths the American People.

  • “How about ‘Retreat-I-can’ ????????” – Tom Cleaver

    Nope, “Appeasercans”

    “Afghanistan? No oil. No threat to Israel. No interest.” – shargash

    Not quite so. Afghanistan was the route to get Kazahk oil to the West without having to go through Russia. It’s why the Texas Oil Mafia invited representatives of the Taliban to Texas where they proceded to insult our women. It’s why Hamid Karzi is President. He’s the Texas Oil Mafia’s candidate.

    “If we can give the Taliban what they want without sacrificing what we want (i.e. a stable, liberal democracy in Afghanistan), then fine.” – Grumpy

    That would be literally impossible. The Taliban practice Sharia law of the strictest sense in the Wahhibi tradition. They even oppose elements of their own Pashtu culture (kite flying, singing) that aren’t Islamic enough for them. Remember that the Taliban are the orphans of the Soviet Invasion and were raised in Madrasas in Pakistan funded by the most conservative elements of Saudi Arabia, the font of Wahhibism.

    “Frist is not going to be running for president because of the ongoing SEC investigation.” – Jim

    I rather suspect he doesn’t see it that way. He has two years to clear this up on his way to the White House. These people are nothing if not egotistical.

    “His position looks ridiculous in light of the GOP’s refusal to see the same truth in Iraq, but he may well be right that Afghanistan is lost. The adventure in Iraq distracted us and we missed our chance.” – Simon C.

    Frankly, I don’t believe that. The Taliban had control of Kabul for years and still couldn’t finish conquoring the country. They are merely a slice of the Pashtu population and the other ethnic minorities in Afghanistan are never going to buckle under them again.

    “As far as I can see they cut and ran in Afghanistan a long time ago. This is like watching a slow train wreck, Make peace with the Taliban? Sure, why not? Forget about women’s rights, freedom, and normal human rights. Let OBL live to fight another day. The stupidity of these folks knows no bounds.” – Gracious

    That describes Frist et al quite well.

    “You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. “And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful.”

    Pity he opposes that kind of transparency in OUR Government.

  • And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful

    Oh boy! And then Shrub can prance about in a flight suit saying Mission Accomplished while Kabul burns to the ground.

    But what do you expect from an asshat who was a general and cardiac surgeon and yet also thinks he can diagnose a person’s level of brain damage from watching old video tapes? The man is a buffoon and needs to have a few surgical masks stuffed down his throat.

    People compare the current Admin. to the ancient Rome with their bread & circuses to keep the proles distracted. I agree, but this time the people in power are the frickin’ clowns.

  • I’ve reviewed the video. Diagnosis: My esteemed medical colleague’s brainwave looks like this: ——————-.

    Pull the plug.

  • I’m so tired of these Give-up-licans and their approaches to Afghanistan.
    —

    I don’t think their trying to throw the election. I prefer to think my prayers are finally being answered.

  • The American Global Corporatists don’t care if assorted terrorists, fascists and theocrats are controlling the populace there, or Here, as long as they get to call the shots and Own the resources.

  • It’s a first: I’m totally at odds with Carpetbagger on this one. Electioneering aside, it’s one of the first, most reasonable, decent sentiments I’ve heard coming from a Repug in a fairly long time.

    Credit where credit’s due. Isn’t reconciliation what we need in all of these situations? Isn’t that our main gripe with BooShites that they exercise no skill in diplomacy or situation appraisal? Why do I sense momentum carrying us off the edge on this one?

    This is a tragic situation for everyone, most of all for Afghanis of all stripes whose country has been invaded, occupied and torn apart for over thirty years now, first by the Soviets, then by the Taliban (whom we funded, trained, supplied and supported), and now by us. Do you, please, stop for one instant to imagine what that must be like, to put youself for one moment in their place.

    OK, you got hit. I’m really sorry about that. I’m right there right connected with that. A lot of damage, a lot of death — unimaginable terror — pain, suffering, loss. Yes, tragic. we know. Sorry, we’re really sorry. But could you just try to get over it. Please? It’s not the only tragedy that’s happened in the world in the last five years. Please stop taking your hurt out on the rest of humanity. Give peace a chance. Go for reconciliation. Treasure empathy and compassion. Put yourselves in other people’s shoes, just for long enough to sense the horror of having your whole country destroyed — not just a couple of, albeit quite impressive, buildings.

    Then I think we can see that unending beating the daylights out of everyone and anyone is not the solution to your problems of grief, chagrin and humiliation.

  • If we can make peace with Taliban and allow them a role in Afghan govt, why not let Hamas and Hezbollah alone also?

  • “This is a tragic situation for everyone, most of all for Afghanis of all stripes whose country has been invaded, occupied and torn apart for over thirty years now, first by the Soviets, then by the Taliban (whom we funded, trained, supplied and supported), and now by us.” – Goldilocks

    You skipped a phase in that history. The Soviets invaded, we funded the Muhadijeen to fight them, their orphans went to Pakistan to study in Saudi funded madrasas, then the orphans, now called the Taliban, came back AFTER the end of the Soviet Invasion and overthrew a Afghan government in Kabul to take power and institute Sharia law. They then engaged in an ethnic war with the other peoples of Afghanistan (the Taliban are Pashtu) which they could not win. After 9/11/01 we backed the other ethnic groups (Tajik, etc.) and threw the Taliban out of Kabul. Now they are fighting back from their safe havens in Pakistan.

    Don’t shortchange history, Goldi.

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