What Happens When They Leave?

“Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top Al-Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement… or whoever’s left out there,” was President Obama’s famous retort against Republican claims that he is soft on terrorism. In his State of the Union Address, Mr. Obama took credit for the accomplishments of Seal Team 6. Mr. Obama is an expert on rhetorical flourishes that is intended to generate applause. But upon closer inspection, Americans should be alarmed at the state of defending the homeland from Islamist terror.

Mr. Obama said in his State of the Union Address that he is “winding down the war” in Afghanistan giving the impression that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are no longer a threat to America. It is easy to make bold pronouncements when 100,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan. The question remains as to what happens when they leave Mr. Obama’s arbitrary timetable to rapidly withdraw U.S. troops may fit just right with his re-election efforts. But it may turn back clock on the significant military gains made by US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Obama Administration’s negotiation with the Taliban is in full gear even if the Taliban has cut-off the Karzai government from the negotiation table. So, we ask the President, how is today’s Taliban different from September 11, 2001? Have they renounced Al Qaeda and the terror agenda? US media reported recently that the Obama Administration is considering releasing top Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay as a concession to the Taliban for the opening of a political office in the Islamic country of Quatar. While 100,000 brave American men and women continue to defend the homeland from terror attacks, the Obama Administration is empowering the Taliban to regain power in that country through political means what they have been denied by US troops through war.

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