His lips say 'no, no,' but his eyes say 'yes, yes.'

So goes Joe Biden's trust in the Taliban, something he constantly denies.

Here's what Biden said on Aug. 23 to a reporter asking him if he trusted a Taliban chieftain:

 “I don’t trust anyone, including you, I love you, but there aren’t a lot of people I trust. The Taliban has to take a fundamental decision.” 

Now there's this to demonstrate what all his flippantly generalized distrust actually means, according to Politico:

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

Quote:

“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”

Sound like the kind of guys you'd give that kind of information, based on your supposed distrust?

Nope, Joe trusts them -- and trusts them, and trusts them, and trusts them. He's like Jimmy Carter with the Iranians, convinced that deep down, they mean us no harm.

The Taliban desperately tries to show them otherwise but somehow Joe doesn't learn. Beyond trusting the Taliban of all creatures to provide security to the Kabul airport, which they didn't -- 13 U.S. servicemen now lie dead, 60 injured -- now the news is out that he gave them a 'kill list' of all the Americans and Afghani collaborators they've supposedly agreed to let through. That's names, and quite possibly addresses, identification numbers, biometrics, all supposedly to watch for and let into the airport in order to evacuate, which they haven't done.

And into whose capable Taliban hands do the names of Americans and Afghani collaborators supposedly go? Well, obviously to the chief of the Taliban 'security' operation, a monstrous beast with a $5 million price on his head.

WASHINGTON — The Taliban’s new self-proclaimed chief of security in Kabul is someone who was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government 10 years ago and is subject to a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani told Al Jazeera in an interview published Sunday that the Taliban was working to restore order in Afghanistan.

"If we can defeat superpowers, surely we can provide safety to the Afghan people," he said.

Those assurances were called into question by what a Pentagon spokesman called a "complex" bombing attack outside Kabul airport Thursday that killed 13 U.S. service members and caused undetermined number of Afghan casualties.

There he is, sitting with everyone's name, address, Social Security number, and who knows, maybe fingerprints. 

In the wake of yesterday's terror attack, the U.S. has reportedly welded shut the airport gates and now told all Americans and collaborators that the evacuation operation is over, so too bad about those still trying to get in.

But the Taliban chief, who let in at least one car bomber and several spray shooters straight to the airport gates, well, he still knows where Americans and Afghanis live.

Apparently, nobody on Team Biden suspected that maybe he was a guy not to trust. Instead of telling the Taliban to just let in all people with U.S. passports and maybe send a live cellphone photo to the Americans preliminarily vet the rest, someone gave them a written list with all the particulars, which is theirs to keep forever.

Joe Biden brushed the matter off when he was asked about it on Thursday, claiming maybe it happened, but he didn't know much, and in any case, it was to get Americans through in the Taliban's good graces, setting up the scenario to blame someone else. 

Asked about POLITICO's reporting during a Thursday news conference, President Joe Biden said he wasn't sure there were such lists, but also didn't deny that sometimes the U.S. hands over names to the Taliban.

"There have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this, for example, this bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through," he said. "So, yes there have been occasions like that. To the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred and they have been let through.

"I can't tell you with any certitude that there's actually been a list of names," he added. "There may have been. But I know of no circumstance. It doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, that here's the names of 12 people, they're coming, let them through. It could very well have happened."

Which might explain, if this tweet is true, reported behind-the-scenes action like this:

Sullivan and multiple NSC officials checking with White House Counsel if the Admin faces legal exposure for providing material support to the Taliban, per WH official

— Jack Posobiec рџ‡єрџ‡ё (@JackPosobiec) August 27, 2021

They know. They know that the Taliban hunts down collaborators and executes people who have already surrendered. They know the Taliban has been doing house-to-house hunts for collaborators now. They know the Taliban wants to kill Americans. They know that the Taliban's aim is to terrify the entire Afghani nation in order to consolidate control.

But Joe Biden continues to trust, even though he repeats a mantra that he doesn't.

Here's what the feckless president was saying last July 8:

Q    Mr. President — do you trust the Taliban, Mr. President?

Q    Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, it is not.

Q    Why?

THE PRESIDENT:  Because you — the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban.  It is not inevitable.

Q    Do you trust the Taliban, Mr. President?  Do you trust the Taliban, sir?

THE PRESIDENT:  You — is that a serious question?

Q    It is absolutely a serious question.  Do you trust the Taliban? 

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I do not.

Q    Do you trust handing over the country to the Taliban?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I do not trust the Taliban. 

Q    So why are you handing the country over?

Q    Mr. President, is the U.S. responsible for the deaths of Afghans after you leave the country?

Q    Mr. President, will you amplify that question, please?  Will you amplify your answer, please — why you don’t trust the Taliban?

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s a — it’s a silly question.  Do I trust the Taliban?  No.  But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- — more competent in terms of conducting war. 

Now that it's obvious he was lying about that and believing what he wanted to believe about Afghan military readiness, he's saying he doesn't trust the Taliban once again. This time he trusts the Taliban to act in its self-interest:

“No one trusts them,” Biden said. “We’re just counting on their self-interest to continue to generate their activities.  And it’s in their self-interest that we leave when we said and that we get as many people out as we can.”

Later Biden again offered an assessment of the fundamentalist groups that seized control of Kabul on August 15.

“They’re not good guys, the Taliban. I’m not suggesting that at all,” he said. “But they have a keen interest. “

Biden said the Taliban wants to keep the Kabul airport operating into the future. It was also wanting to maintain an economy which, while not robust, was nonetheless “fundamentally different than it had been.”

Really? They'd rather just get the Americans out than humiliate their mortal enemy that kicked their keister for 20 years before the world?

He trusts them all right - imagining that they're just Democrat-style pork politicians whose only aim is to keep a chicken in every pot, and therefore can be trusted to be swayed by Biden's dangled federal aid, calling it all "self-interest."

Twenty years after continuous Taliban warfare, blowing up statues, murdering collaborators, killing Americans, he trusts that the Taliban just want to be Chicago-style Democrats, ladling the pork for votes, as if anyone's vote counts for anything in a barbaric regime that shot its way into power.

Therefore, they can be trusted with security. They can be trusted with American names. They can be trusted partners for Afghanistan's future. Biden's trust for the Taliban is like that of Stalin for Hitler. He trusts them but claims he doesn't, the better to keep questions away. He never learns, not even once, so we can expect him to trust them again.

He doesn't get these beasts at all.

Image: Screen shot from CBS8 video, posted on shareable YouTube

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