WH struggles to explain whether it considers Taliban terrorist organization (Video)

Earlier this week, Lt. General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, became the latest in a gorowing line of former administration members to take the president to task over his approach to the war on terror. In a speech to intelligence professionals, Flynn minced no words, declaring:

The dangers to the U.S. do not arise from the arrogance of American power, but from unpreparedness or an excessive unwillingness to fight when fighting is necessary.

You cannot defeat an enemy you do not admit exists.

Flynn was referring in the last instance to the administration stubborn refusal to acknowledge that the U.S. is at war with followers of radical Islam — a phrase the White House has gone out of its way to avoid even mentioning. But this troublesome shibboleth is not the only stumbling block in the administration’s policy on terrorism. Yesterday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz was asked by a reporter whether the president considers the Taliban is a terrorist organization. Take a listen to Schultz’s answer:

Note that initially, he draws a distinction between an “armed insurgency” (which is how he characterizes the Taliban) and a “terrorist group” (the White House nomenclature for ISIL). When the logical question of whether the administration considers the Taliban to be a terrorist organization, Schultz becomes tongue-tied.

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Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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