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Taliban appoints fmr. Guantanamo prisoner as defense minister, report says
American Military News ^ | AUGUST 24, 2021 | RYAN MORGAN

Posted on 08/24/2021 12:11:51 PM PDT by george76

The Taliban has appointed former Guantanamo Bay detainee mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as acting defense minister, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing Al Jazeera.

According to Guantanamo Bay transfer documents, Zakir (who also goes by Abdullah Gulam Rasoul, Abdullah Rasoul and Ghullam Rasoul) was captured in Afghanistan on November 28, 2001, and he arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on January 11, 2002.

Zakir was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2007. According to a January 2012 report by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Zakir was transferred to a prison in Afghanistan in December 2007 after a review board determined deemed him to be “no longer a threat.” He claimed during his review board, “I want to go back home and join my family and work in my land and help my family.”

Zakir was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the maximum-security wing of Pul-e-Charkhi prison, which had been designed to hold high-risk detainees who had been released from Guantanamo Bay. Shortly after being transferred to Afghanistan, however, Zakir was released. The 2012 HASC report said, “The circumstances of this action remain cloudy.”

While Afghanistan’s deputy attorney general has claimed that Zakir “went before an Afghan court, which ruled he had served his time,” the 2012 HASC report shared speculation from some Afghan officials that Zakir was released following pressure from Afghan tribal elders. One U.S. attorney believed said “tribal loyalties” seemed to “count for more than innocence or guilt” in Zakir’s case.

By 2009, the Department of Defense had determined Zakir had returned to prominence within the Taliban as the leader in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported.

“It is widely acknowledged that he became Mullah Omar’s top military commander and has masterminded lethal operations against coalition troops in Helmand province,” the 2012 HASC report stated. “In early 2009, a U.S. intelligence official said that Zakir’s stated mission was to “counter the U.S. troop surge.”

The reporting that Zakir will now serve as an acting defense minister for the Taliban government comes just over a week after the Taliban took over the city of Kabul, which had served as the capital of the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The Taliban has provided few specifics in the last week about how they will govern, though a Taliban official said the group would announce the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was the formal name of the Taliban government when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before falling to U.S. forces invading Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 1afghanistan; 1moretime; afghanistan; guantanamo; obamalegacy; taliban; thanksobama
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1 posted on 08/24/2021 12:11:51 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76

The entire senior military leadership in Biden’s administration needs to resign, America has gone from first to laughed at because of these woke losers.


2 posted on 08/24/2021 12:13:41 PM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: george76

“Taliban appoints fmr. Guantanamo prisoner as defense minister, report says”

With that background he might find himself in a confirmation fight when it goes before the Loya Jurga.

...isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work, Mr. Bush?


3 posted on 08/24/2021 12:14:21 PM PDT by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here.)
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To: george76

That bodes well.


4 posted on 08/24/2021 12:17:35 PM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman!)
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To: george76

Shows ya can’t keep a good man down. Or a lousy cowardly low IQ foul smelling torturer like this guy, either. Can he get a weekly show on MSNBC now? Hopefully not bumping Al Sharpton out of his time slot, though.


5 posted on 08/24/2021 12:18:34 PM PDT by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: 1Old Pro

Wait! You mean it’s not all Trump’s fault?


6 posted on 08/24/2021 12:19:13 PM PDT by BuchananBrigadeTrumpFan (If in doubt, it's probably sarcasm)
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To: george76

“a review board determined deemed him to be “no longer a threat.””

If I were to write that “Every person on that Review Board needs to hang”, would I be wrong?


7 posted on 08/24/2021 12:22:51 PM PDT by Macoozie (Handcuffs and Orange Jumpsuitss)
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To: george76

Afghanistan’s going to look like the West Bank after Israel pulled out and Hamas took over....only much much worse.


8 posted on 08/24/2021 12:23:49 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: 1Old Pro

No one in this administration is going to resign. They would have to be physically forced out, and no one on the right has the spine for that.


9 posted on 08/24/2021 12:23:57 PM PDT by CatOwner (Don't expect anyone, even conservatives, to have your back when the SHTF in 2021)
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To: george76

.. zero’s work.

Revolution!

MAGA!


10 posted on 08/24/2021 12:24:50 PM PDT by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good. )
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To: george76

Wonder how the Taliban are going to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11?


11 posted on 08/24/2021 12:26:05 PM PDT by Chgogal (#GulagNancy is going all Cuba on Trump Supporters.)
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To: george76

Black Ops needed to quietly take all their appointed leaders out one by one.


12 posted on 08/24/2021 12:28:21 PM PDT by billyboy15
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To: 1Old Pro
This started under Bush, the "compassionate" conservative.

After wringing as much info out of them as we could, all the Guantanamo prisoners should have been brought before a drumhead courts martial, found guilty of terrorism and being an unlawful combatant, and shot.

Why don't we win? We because our elites don't believe in our values enough to enforce them. There's no reason why the protection of the laws of war should have been afforded to any combatant we have faced since 1945. Our elites prefer to demonstrate their false magnanimity with our lives, our safety, and our livelihoods.

13 posted on 08/24/2021 12:36:53 PM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens" )
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To: george76

Every one of the prisoners in Gitmo should have been shot years ago.


14 posted on 08/24/2021 12:39:01 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents)(Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: george76
after a review board determined deemed him to be “no longer a threat.”

Name names.

15 posted on 08/24/2021 12:42:36 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (Claiming Racism, the antidote to personal responsibility)
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To: george76

Its a very nasty thing to say this man while at Guantanamo gave very specific information that led to lethal attacks on the Taliban and especially his rivals. Extremely nasty to let it be known that since he was released, he has been a paid agent and continues to supply useful information. Sure the clear thinking, insightful Taliban would dismiss such allegations as infidel subterfuge and lies. Also doubt the Biden cabal would ever say such things.


16 posted on 08/24/2021 12:44:38 PM PDT by allendale
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To: george76
“I want to go back home and join my family and work in my land and help my family.”

Sounds like the same excuse our criminals in Congress use.

17 posted on 08/24/2021 12:45:10 PM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: george76
the only way to beat that is to have Beau Bergdahl take over for fat ass Gen Milley.....that will show em whose boss!.../s
18 posted on 08/24/2021 1:37:34 PM PDT by M-cubed (The MSM is now the 4th Branch of Government.....)
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To: george76

Biden needs to replace the Chief Joints and his idiot Def Sec with Taliban.


19 posted on 08/24/2021 1:39:13 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: george76

Of course, all we have to do is discreetly put out that while at Gitmo, he was “turned” by the CIA, and they’ll likely cut off his head.


20 posted on 08/24/2021 1:45:10 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Do kids in Iceland still play "The Floor Is Lava?")
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