Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

I'm afraid I have to return to Afghanistan because what's going on is just plain ridiculous. How much have we heard lately about all the danger that the former interpreters are in?  That we have to get them out of the country, send them to the US or UK, before the Taliban gets their hands on them. Well, the Taliban issued a statement about it today:

Statement of Islamic Emirate concerning US visa offer encouraging Afghan exodus

The offer of visas and encouragement to leave their home country by the US government to Afghans who worked with the American occupation as interpreters and in other sectors is plain interference in our country which the Islamic Emirate condemns.

We had already announced that interpreters and other workers who previously allied with the US will not face any trouble following the end of the American occupation.

They may live comfortably in their homeland without any fear of threats.

We urge the United States along with other countries to desist from such interventionist policies.

Now, I'm no disciple of the Taliban. But, I know they're telling the truth about this. How do I know? Because: the Taliban has been accepting defectors from the other side for a long time, and there have been plenty. And that includes former combatants. If they can accept and welcome former combatants, they can certainly accept and welcome former interpreters. So, anyone who accepts their beliefs that all foreign troops need to leave Afghanistan, and that the current Afghan government, which was born from the occupation, has to be dissolved, is going to be accepted.  And that's true no matter what they did during the occupation. I predict that the only exceptions will be high level people, like Ghani and Abdullah. I suspect they consider those people irredeemable, but that's about it. 

But, it really upsets me that just about everything we hear, from the government and the media, about Afghanistan is a lie. It's all propaganda. They can't tell the truth about anything, and that includes the undeniable fact that we just plain lost the war, that the ragtag Taliban beat the world's only super-power.  It's a disgusting spectacle.