In an absolutely outrageous move, the New York Times allowed a terrorist, murderer, kidnapper and a man with a $5 million dollar bounty on his head to write an Op-Ed, “What We, the Taliban Want” for the Times. 

The piece by Sirajuddin Haqqani, whom the Times described as the deputy leader of the Taliban, is the height of hypocrisy by the newspaper. His self-serving, and utterly lying post is the exact kind of thing the Times accuses the current officeholder at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. of.

Imagine if you will, (apologies to Rod Serling), a world where early in 1945, Joseph Goebbels, the head of Nazi propaganda and a deputy to Adolf Hitler penned an Op-Ed for the NYT where he uttered the lie: 

“We did not choose our war with the foreign coalition led by the United States. We were forced to defend ourselves.” 

Because this is exactly what Haqqani wrote. And I’m sure some sucker will buy that BS hook, line, and sinker. 

You can’t even call that revisionist history, because it goes way beyond that. Even though the images are quickly fading from the mainstream American consciousness, due to a fascination with what dress the Kardashians are wearing to the Oscars although none of them act, one thing IS certain: The Taliban were directly responsible, along with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, for what happened on 9/11. 

The thousands of dead Americans, on that awful September morning, didn’t die on some far-flung battlefield, far from our shores. But right here in New York City, Washington D.C. and a field in Pennsylvania. 

The Times is a frequent critic of President Trump and what they term his “war on women’s rights.” Compared to the Taliban, Trump is a poster-boy running as the head of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Haqqani wrote in his piece: “We together will find a way to build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam — from the right to education to the right to work — are protected.”

Women’s “rights” under the Taliban? They don’t involve going to school, as in 2008 Haqqani himself blew up a school that was educating girls. They don’t involve walking out of doors without being covered from head-to-toe in a burqa, without the risk of being stoned to death. Working? Forget that too.

But the biggest hypocrisy by the Times involves its own reporter. David S. Rohde was an investigative journalist for the NYT who in late 2008 was writing a book on the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. He was granted an exclusive interview with a senior Taliban commander. But he never arrived at his destination. On his way there, Rohde was kidnapped by insurgents led by… Haqqani. 

The Times asked for other media outlets not to publicize his captivity on the chance that it would ruin the chances for his rescue or release. None of that happened. After more than seven months of captivity, during which he and his driver were held captive in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, Rohde escaped and was eventually returned to American control. 

“It is sad that the [Times] has given their platform to an individual who is on a designated terrorist list. He and his network are behind ruthless attacks against Afghans and foreigners,” Afghan Presidential Palace spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi said.

A senior correspondent for the NYT, Mujib Mashal, blasted the decision by stating on Twitter: “The piece by Siraj Haqqani in @nytopinion — which’s independent of our news operations & judgment — omits the most fundamental fact: that Siraj is no Taliban peace-maker as he paints himself, [and] that he’s behind some of the most ruthless attacks of this war with many civilian lives lost.”

In Congress, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), the third-ranking Republican in the House, took exception to the piece as well. “I have some questions for @nytimes since they decided to give the Taliban a forum to spew garbage, like, ‘We did not choose our war…We were forced to defend ourselves.’ 1. Remember 9/11?  2. The author is a designated global terrorist. Did you pay him for this piece?,” she posted to Twitter on Thursday.

The Times defended their decision to air the unchallenged Op-Ed, by the designated global terrorist Haqqani, with the message: “The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles.” But they turned off online comments on his Op-Ed. Hmm, apparently their hypocrisy doesn’t have limited bounds…