The refusal of the Obama administration to call the Taliban what they are — terrorists — while going all out for an accused Army deserter can only be interpreted as sympathy for jihadists who the White House doesn't really regard as our enemies, says conservative scholar and author David Horowitz.
"I don't see any other way to read this," Horowitz told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV Friday, blasting the administration
for semantic quibbling this week over terrorism versus insurgency, even as Taliban attacks on civilians continued.
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"Let's see: the Taliban just slaughtered 130 school children in Pakistan. They're not terrorists?" said the founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the editor of FrontPage magazine.
"Bowe Bergdahl, according to the White House, served honorably his country?" said Horowitz, referring to reports that the Army sergeant captured by the Taliban in 2009, and returned home in exchange for five imprisoned militants, is facing
desertion charges.
"It's really clear that the White House does not want us to win this war, that it sympathizes with our enemies," said Horowitz.
"How do you fight a war where you call deserters honorable?" he said. "I mean, [for] desertion there used to be the firing squad, and there was a good reason for that. This guy betrayed — he didn't just betray his country, he didn't just betray an idea, he actually betrayed
the men who fought next to him, six of whom were killed trying to find him.
"And of course Obama leaves Americans behind," said Horowitz. "What do you think happened in Benghazi? He left heroes behind. What he doesn't leave behind is traitors, because he identifies with them."
Horowitz said he found it "sad" to watch White House spokesman Josh Earnest "fall all over himself" insisting the Taliban are insurgents, not terrorists — a characterization that
has been widely ridiculed, and denounced as dangerous for the evident failure to recognize who and what the enemy is.
"When you have to tell such huge lies before a national audience you do get yourself tripped up," said Horowitz. "My understanding is, he was [delivering] the exact talking points that the National Security Council gave him. And … who's the president's national security adviser? Susan Rice. I mean, come on."
This administration is so corrupt, is so evil in what it's doing to the American people," said Horowitz. "There are going to be many, many American bodies to pay for both what this president is and is not doing, but also for the way collectively we collude with him by not calling things by their right names."
Horowitz also weighed in on the controversy over
a forthcoming speech to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The planned visit, arranged between Netanyahu and House Speaker John Boehner without a heads-up to the White House, has stirred a backlash, a retaliatory White House snub, and
sharp criticism from congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
"Well, it's how Jew-hating the Democrats have become," said Horowitz, "and I include the Jews who are Democrats who support this stuff."
"Israel is facing what they call an existential threat," said Horowitz, referring to Israel's antagonists throughout the Middle East. "It's surrounded by Nazis — by people who declare … death to Israel. They want to destroy the Jewish state, and Obama is diddling with them. It's mind-boggling.
"This is much worse than what Chamberlain did with Hitler because there were reasons, maybe, where he could reasonably think that Hitler would do business with him," said Horowitz. "But these Iranians … they've killed Americans. They declared that America should be wiped from the face of the earth. They're religious fanatics.
"They support terror all over the world, and Obama is doing this dance with them to allow them enough time so they can get a nuclear weapon that would destroy the state of Israel," said Horowitz.
"And Nancy Pelosi's ire is reserved for America's staunchest ally in the Middle East, and actually probably in the world," he said.
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