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KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck a funeral in Afghanistan for the victims of an earlier Taliban attack, killing 16 people and wounding 39, an Afghan official said. The attack took place in eastern Laghman province, according to the local governor's spokesman, Sarhadi Zwak. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but the blame is likely to fall on the Taliban who have staged similar attacks in the past.

During Wednesday afternoon’s White House press conference, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl cornered Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz over why the administration does not consider the Taliban to be a “terrorist” organization. In light of a possible Jordanian prisoner swap with ISIS forces, Karl asked Schultz how that government’s actions differ from the United States’ 2014 release of Gitmo prisoners to the Taliban in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. When the spokesman suggested the Taliban is just an “armed insurgency,” and not a “terrorist organization” like ISIS, Karl pounced: “You don’t think the Taliban’s a terrorist group?” In the clip...

At Wednesday's White House press briefing, deputy press secretary Eric Schultz wouldn't call the Taliban a terrorist group, instead referring to it as "an armed insurgency." Video and transcript at link ...

White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes was dealt two major political blows, each on the same day. On one front, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (Ret.) appeared on the O’Reilly Factor and broke some shocking news about the case of Bowe Bergdahl. On another front, legal watchdog Judicial Watch has reported that it has obtained documents as a result of its FOIA lawsuit against the State Department. Last April, Rhodes was revealed as the author of the infamous ‘smoking gun’ Benghazi email that instructed then U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to claim a demonstration took place in Benghazi before the...

Transparency: The administration is said to be hiding for reasons of damage control a report on the soldier we traded five Taliban leaders for. Bowe Bergdahl's lawyers have already been given a charge sheet for desertion. Both Fox News and now NBC News have reported that Sgt. Bergdahl will be charged with desertion. "I have been told and confirmed by two other sources that his attorney has been given what we call a charge sheet," retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a respected military analyst, told Fox's Bill O'Reilly on Monday. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski quoted senior defense officials on Tuesday...

On Monday’s broadcast of “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel, retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer of the London Center for Policy Research revealed to host Bill O’Reilly that sources tell him U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges for desertion. Bergdahl was held captive by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan from June 2009 until his release in May 2014, which was part of a prisoner exchange for five Taliban members who were being held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

It’s an old axiom in the world of public affairs to release bad news or information that might result in blowback late on a Friday afternoon. That usually results in minimal “play” by the media and hopefully (in the view of the news managers) it will be marginalized by Monday morning’s news cycle. If the long-awaited Army investigative report on Bowe Bergdahl had been released on time – Friday afternoon, January 16 – it would have tested that strategy to the maximum. Much of the country suspects the liar-in-chief in the White House wants to paint the alleged Taliban “captive”...

On Tuesday, Barack Obama adamantly defended his policy of emptying the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, demanding that Congress get on board with it as well. As Jim Hoft noted at the time, the military leadership present at the State of the Union address didn’t appear too enthusiastic about it:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO Perhaps the New York Times has an explanation for that stone-faced reaction. At the same time that Obama bragged about “turning the page” on war and the end of combat operations in Afghanistan, one of the men transferred from Gitmo worked to establish a...

Taliban Swap: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the report on the possible desertion of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be produced "fairly soon." Does it expose his trade for terrorists as another administration disaster? bfrrIt's bad enough that the Obama administration is conducting a clearance sale of al-Qaida detainees at Guantanamo, releasing the worst of the worst like a candy dispenser. But as the Islamic State spawns terror cells in Europe, and al-Qaida, the demise of which was greatly exaggerated, is linked to the terrorist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris as revenge for...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Last Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, indicated that he expected a decision “fairly soon” on whether the Army will court martial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan, or has cleared him, paving the way for separation from the service and back pay in excess of $200,000. Moreover, a decision to clear Bergdahl may well open the door for him to be designated a former prisoner of war, ensuring him substantial monthly pay, medical and educational benefits for the rest of his life. To those who have followed all angles...

I’ve never been a fan of global conferences to solve problems, but when I read that the Obama administration is organizing a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism for Feb. 18, in response to the Paris killings, I had a visceral reaction: Is there a box on my tax returns that I can check so my tax dollars won’t go to pay for this? When you don’t call things by their real name, you always get in trouble. And this administration, so fearful of being accused of Islamophobia, is refusing to make any link to radical Islam from the recent explosions...

Overnight, five more Guantanamo Bay detainees were released from American custody as the process of emptying out the prison facility accelerates. That brings the total of Guantanamo detainees released just this month to nine. “The two men from Tunisia and three from Yemen — who have been at the camp for a dozen years — had been cleared for release from the prison by a government task force but could not be sent to their homelands,” Fox News reported on Wednesday.Of the approximately 800 Guantanamo prisoners who were housed in that facility during the Bush administration, only 127 now remain....

Which terrorist will Obama set loose next from Gitmo? A better question might be is there any terrorist he won’t free? Is there an Al Qaeda or Taliban Jihadist who poses too much of a threat to the United States for Obama to free with a lot of airline miles and Michelle Obama’s recipe for arugula fruitcake? If Obama has a red line when it comes to releasing terrorists, we haven’t seen it yet. There appears to be no threat that a terrorist can pose and no crime he has committed too severe to prevent him from getting a plane...

What could go wrong? Barack Obama released a nuclear terrorist back to Afghanistan this month. Mohammad Zahir was in possession of uranium for use in making an atomic bomb when he was captured. Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage Magazine reported: If Obama has a red line when it comes to releasing terrorists, we haven’t seen it yet. There appears to be no threat that a terrorist can pose and no crime he has committed too severe to prevent him from getting a plane trip out of Gitmo at taxpayer expense. The last releases saw terrorists rated as high risk freed by...

As President Obama frees droves of terrorists—including five Yemenis this week—from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo news reports confirm that a Gitmo alum who once led a Taliban unit has established the first Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) base in Afghanistan. His name is Mullah Abdul Rauf and international and domestic media reports say he’s operating in Helmand province, actively recruiting fighters for ISIS. Citing local sources, a British newspaper writes that Rauf set up a base and is offering good wages to anyone willing to fight for the Islamic State. Rauf was a corps commander during...

12 DEAD IN PARIS MASSACRE: Islamic gunmen execute French police officer as he pleads for his life after terror attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo at centre of Mohammed cartoon storm Masked gunmen storm Paris headquarters with AK-47s shouting 'Allahu akbar!' and 'the Prophet has been avenged' Stalked building asking for people's names before killing the editor and cartoonist during weekly editorial meeting Horrific footage shows a police officer begging for his life before being shot in the head at point-blank range Killers fled in stolen car across eastern Paris after a 'mass shoot-out' with police officers and remain on...

Several of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s former colleagues claimed that he abandoned his unit and his post on June 30th, 2009 leaving behind his weapon and body armor. Several hundred regular and Special forces troops joined the search for the missing private; a search during which at least six Americans were killed. Six soldiers and possibly more known to have been lost looking for an alleged deserter, but the Pentagon is too cowardly to admit it as the search has often been added to non-related missions. The early cover story of Bergdahl’s disappearance suggested he was captured when he fell behind...

President declares combat missions in Afghanistan are over. Jennifer Griffin reports on Obama's bold prediction [VIDEO]

Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, author of The Last Line, and Ret. Col. David Hunt joined Bill O’Reilly to give an update on the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap. Lt. Colonel Shaffer told Bill the Obama administration paid $5 billion and released five top Taliban Gitmo detainees in exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl. Obama celebrated the release of deserter Bowe Bergdahl with a White House press conference in the Rose Garden in May 2014.Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who was part of the negotiations, told Bill O’Reilly the US paid out $5 billion and traded five top Taliban detainees for Bergdahl. Bill O’Reilly:...

Men repatriated at request of President Ashraf Ghani; camp census now 132. The four Afghan detainees whose release from Guantanamo was announced on Saturday. Clockwise from top right: Abdul Ghani, Khi Ali Gul, Shawali Khan, Mohammed Zahir. Four Afghan detainees have been released from Guantanamo Bay and repatriated at the request of President Ashraf Ghani, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Saturday. Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir were flown to Afghanistan after what the Pentagon called a “comprehensive review” of their case. Lawyers for Khan and Ghani said their clients were already back with their...