Hot Air has the substantive critique of the WH's discovery that the Taliban aren't really our enemy. It's also worth noting that Obama's been peddling similar-but-not-identical nonsense for a while - CT Blog was already ripping our super-keen CiC's myth of two Talibans back in March.

And isn't it interesting how administration officials have now become literal mouthpieces for Taliban propaganda. I saw this Taliban statement in the wires yesterday and wanted to blog it with a line like "how long before this gets picked up as the new sophisticated liberal read on the AfPak theater?" Good thing for you guys I didn't get to it. Can you imagine how insufferable I'd be right now?

Afghanistan's insurgent Taliban marked the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion Wednesday saying they have no "agenda" to harm other countries but would continue fighting as long as America and its allies remain in the troubled nation. The Taliban insistence that it would pose no threat to other countries appeared aimed at countering suspicions that the Islamist movement would support al-Qaida's global jihad if they returned to power. Supporters of the war fear that al-Qaida would regain its once-dominant position in Afghanistan if the Taliban topple the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

In an Internet statement Wednesday obtained by the SITE Institute, a U.S. group that monitors terror messages, the Taliban said their goal was "independence and establishment of an Islamic system. We did not have any agenda to harm other countries including Europe, nor we have such agenda today," the group said. "Still, if you want to turn the country of the proud and pious Afghans into a colony, then know that we have an unwavering determination and have braced for a prolonged war."

First, Europe isn't a country, regardless of what Obama said during the primaries. More importantly, I'm trying to square yesterday's wide-eyed claim of innocence with previous Taliban threats to destroy Paris, but I'm coming up short. Maybe someone in the administration can untangle it for me.

References:
* New White House spin: Taliban not really an enemy, has role in Afghanistan's future [Hot Air]
* The Myth of the Two Talibans [CT Blog]
* Taliban say they're no threat to other countries [MSNBC]
* NO WONDER THEY'RE AFRAID OF BRIT HUME [Ann Coulter]
* Taliban says maybe we won't always have Paris [Jihad Watch]

Previously:
* AfPak [MR]
* Obama Vs. Obama On Victory In Afghanistan
* AfPak | Mere Rhetoric