Biden's comments attracted a firestorm of criticism from many Republicans, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney. CBS News reported on Wednesday, December 21:
Since arguing in a Monday interview with Newsweek/The Daily Beast that "the Taliban per se is not our enemy," the vice president has been roundly criticized by Republicans who argue his assessment of foreign policy in Afghanistan is "strange" and "extraordinary."What Biden said about the Taliban is completely right. It is not America's enemy. It poses no threat to America's national security. And it didn't shelter Al-Qaeda."If Vice President Biden is to be believed, both he and President Obama think the Taliban 'is not our enemy.' This statement is bizarre, factually wrong, and an outrageous affront to our troops carrying out the fight in Afghanistan," Romney said in a Tuesday statement.
In short, the Taliban was not responsible in any way for the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. They are culturally backward and extremely religious, but they're not international terrorists. Their fight is local, and it will be resolved by Afghans, not NATO.
On October 10, 2010, Saurabh Kumar Shahi reported in an article called "Manufacturing Consent," for The Sunday Indian that "Documents suggest that in the years leading to 9/11, Taliban was not only willing to hand over Bin Laden to the US but also warned the latter of an impending terrorist attack."
Here is a longer excerpt from the article:
The US administration documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and released by Washington based National Security Archive shed some additional light on talks with the Taliban preceding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It also underlines the constant Taliban offer to hand over Osama bin Laden; and the activity of Pakistan before and after the attacks.The Taliban will play a huge role in stabilizing Afghanistan, so engaging Taliban leaders is important step towards rebuilding confidence in America's presence in the region and reputation around the world.
As present-day US plan of action increasingly follows policies to conciliate or “flip” the Taliban, the document highlights Washington’s complete refusal to negotiate with Taliban immediately after 9/11. For example, on September 13, 2001, the then US Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin brusquely told President Pervez Musharraf that there was “absolutely no inclination in Washington to enter into a dialogue with the Taliban” and that the time for dialogue was “finished as of September 11.” However, Pakistan's approach was more holistic and did not correspond to the American knee-jerk reaction. The then ISI chief N Mahmoud Ahmed told the ambassador not to act in anger. The real victory, he said, would come in negotiations and that if the Taliban were eliminated, Afghanistan would “revert to warlordism.”
Biden and the Obama administration are going on the right track by starting a dialogue with Taliban leaders and informing the American people that the Taliban is not America's enemy. After a decade of propaganda and disinformation, telling a little truth goes a long way and may actually restore public trust in the White House.
But Biden was only right about one point - that the Taliban is not America's enemy. He made another critical statement about the Taliban in the interview that either shows his ignorance, or his duplicity. He said:
NEWSWEEK: I know you don’t believe we can reshape Afghanistan and make it into a caramelized democracy.Biden is clearly lying here. The Taliban did not harbor, shelter, and support Al-Qaeda. That is a false accusation.
BIDEN: Look, look, Les, let’s posit that your statement is that it’s clear that Pakistan could live with an Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban.
NEWSWEEK: They did.
BIDEN: We could not. We could not because they harbored, sheltered, and supported an outfit that created a real threat to the United States.
NEWSWEEK: And we told them if you stop harboring al Qaeda, we’ll live with you too.
BIDEN: Yes, but they didn’t.
In reality, America had no legitimate reason to invade and occupy Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. Here are three reasons why:
1) Al-Qaeda was not responsible for 9/11 because it doesn't exist. The shadow CIA and shadow Mossad were responsible for that con job.
2) The Taliban did not protect and harbor Al-Qaeda cells. That crime was committed by the shadow CIA, shadow MI6, and shadow Mossad.
3) Afghanistan is a sovereign nation whose people and government did not attack America.
These three facts prove that the U.S. empire and Zionist/Neocon snakes are the clear aggressors in the global war of terror.
The U.S. empire started the war by sacrificing 3,000 of its own people on 9/11. If that is not monstrous and evil then nothing is.
