Deception on high
U.S. officials say and do two different things
Two troubling news reports suggest the Obama administration is not being entirely honest with the public about its policy on hostage ransoms and its military role in Afghanistan.
On the first, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI helped facilitate a ransom in 2012 from Warren Weinstein’s family to those suspected of taking the aid worker hostage. Yet the government’s longstanding stated position is against paying ransoms for hostages.
When the January killing of Mr. Weinstein and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan came to light last week, the administration reiterated that its policy had not changed. Now it appears that the FBI evaluated the credibility of a Pakistani intermediary who was to transport a $250,000 payment to al-Qaida from the Weinstein family intended to free their loved one.
The U.S. government said its agents did not approve the payment and thus did not act against U.S. policy. But their help in the unsuccessful transaction portrays the government as a willing participant.
The second development contrary to stated Obama policy involves the recent combat activity of U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. They are supposed to be performing only training. Yet Special Operations forces and air assets, including drones, are still participating in combat strikes.
U.S. Army Gen. John F. Campbell argues that Afghan forces being trained by the American troops are still unable to stand up to the Taliban. While that might be true, it is no reason to deceive the American people about the true role of U.S. troops. Given the depth of the Afghan forces’ problems and the determination of the Taliban, it’s hard to see the situation changing at any time in the foreseeable future. That means endless U.S. war in Afghanistan, which Americans do not support.
On the role of the United States in Afghanistan and on the FBI’s facilitation of the Weinstein ransom, what the government says to the American people and what it does should be the same.