Wonderful: U.S. Seeks Direct Talks With Mullah Omar

I guess this will be a negotiated surrender. Should do wonders for Obama's re-election and let's face it, that's what this is all about.

American officials have set a goal of direct negotiations with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, prompting Washington to approach intermediaries to broker meetings within months.

With America expected to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July, Washington has stepped up the pace of talks with Taliban leaders.

During a visit to Islamabad last month, Marc Grossman, Washington's special envoy to the region, appealed for help in contacting the reclusive Taliban leader, according to Imtiaz Gul, the head of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.

"He said we are looking for people or groups that can demonstrate their access to Mullah Omar," Mr Gul said.

In February, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, signalled a sea change in policy when she compared talking with the Taliban to President Ronald Reagan's decision to "sit down with the Soviets". During a farewell trip to the region last week, Robert Gates, the outgoing US defence secretary, predicted that talks would start "by the end of the year".

Mr Grossman, the replacement for special envoy Richard Holbrooke, has been nicknamed "Mr Reconciliation" and has been told to focus on tying up an agreement that will speed up the return of American troops.

American officials had already contacted Tayyab Aga, Mullah Omar's personal secretary, who was the last public voice of the Taliban in 2001. Analysts believe that President Barack Obama, with Osama bin Laden dead and an economic crisis at home, could announce a larger than expected initial withdrawal this year – at least 10,000 troops – although no announcement has yet been made.

One senior defence official said: "The president has said he wants the withdrawal to start in July and to be meaningful. Those are the discussions that have to happen."

Mr Gul said that time was running out to strike a political deal between Afghanistan's warring factions.

"They [the Americans] are desperate. The timeline has already been announced so they are operating by the idiom 'the sooner the better'," he said. Last year a shopkeeper posed as Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, a former Taliban minister, and twice met Western officials before they realised they had been tricked – and fleeced for thousands of dollars.

Former Club Gitmo Guest Now Taliban Leader

Yet another reminder to those out there who've agitated nonstop for years about Guantanamo Bay and our detention of these terror vermin: You've got a lot of blood on your hands.

A former Guantanamo Bay inmate is leading the fight against U.S. Marines in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to FOX News on Tuesday.

Mullah Zakir, also known as Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, surrendered in Mazar-e-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan in 2001, and was transferred to Gitmo in 2006. He was released in late 2007 to Afghan custody.

Now as the United States is pushing ahead with the massive Operation Khanjar in the southern province of Afghanistan, Zakir is coordinating the Taliban fighters. Some 4,000 U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan forces have faced some resistance as they sweep across the province, reclaiming control of districts where Zakir and his comrades were running a shadow government.

Zakir was released from Afghan custody around 2008, according to the New York Post. He re-established connections with high-level Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan after his second release.

Taliban chief Mullah Omar appointed Zakir in mid-2008 as senior military commander, according to the newspaper.

Zakir quickly became a charismatic leader, helping establish an "accountability commission" to track spending and monitor activities of Taliban leaders in the districts where they held power and were running a shadow government, according to the Post.

Ah yes, we know full well about those charismatic leaders. Probably helped charm his ACLU handlers with some sob stories before being released.

Of course, we didn't ever have to release this monster, except for the fact the world community was outraged at our handling of these poor naifs.

It's funny how the media never returns to those who helped facilitate their release and ask them for reaction.

Explaining why Zakir was released from Gitmo, the defense official said, "We were under incredible pressure from the world to release detainees at Gitmo. You just don't know what people are going to do.

The Taliban must be salivating at the the promise our own charismatic leader plans to shutter Club Gitmo.

Taliban Utilizing Hostage Cash

Never saw this coming. It's also comforting see such a close relationship between the media and these seventh-century goons.

Millions of dollars handed over to secure the release of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan have been used to buy weapons deployed against British and American forces in the country, the Taliban claims.

Major Alexis Roberts, 32, Prince William's former platoon commander at Sandhurst, was one of the victims of the Taliban offensive funded by the hostage money.

According to Taliban fighters interviewed by The Sunday Telegraph, the money has also been used to train recruits to carry out terrorist attacks in Britain and America.

South Korea has repeatedly denied claims by Afghan officials that it paid cash to secure the release in August of 21 Christian volunteers who were held for nearly six weeks. But in a recent meeting, three Taliban fighters involved in the conflict with the British in Helmand province said that $10 million cash handed over in two instalments [sic] had been used to boost operations in Afghanistan and abroad.

"It was a God-sent opportunity," said Mullah Hezbollah, 30. "It has helped us to multiply our stockpile of weapons and explosives to wage battle for at least a year or so."

He said the money had been paid in August, shortly before the Taliban's fugitive spiritual leader, Mullah Omar, ordered Operation Nusrat (victory), an offensive against coalition troops which ran throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which finished last week. During the operation, four British soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan, including Major Roberts.

"We were really concerned when we received orders to launch Operation Nusrat, because we had hardly any funds to buy weapons to carry out such a major offence," said Mullah Hezbollah. Thanks to the ransom payments, however, the operation proceeded with "full vigour".