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Aides to Herman Cain are pointing to a Libyan military commander with ties to the Taliban to vindicate the candidate’s suggestion yesterday that the former militant ruling party of Afghanistan is playing a role in the formation of Libya’s new government.
Cain spokesman JD Gordon cites Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, Libya’s Islamist military commander who fought with the Afghan Taliban, as proof that Cain’s remarks were accurate. Gordon, a former spokesman for the Department of Defense, said he knows Belhaj has taken an “oath of loyalty” to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
In Orlando on Friday, Cain rhetorically asked reporters at a press conference, “Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that Ghaddafy should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where you've got Taliban and Al Qaeda that's going to be part of the government?”
The comment came after the former Georgia businessman faced another question about a mangled answer he gave to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board when asked if he agreed with how President Barack Obama handled Libya. Cain took an extended pause before beginning to answer, and at one point needed to start over.
His suggestion that the Taliban, now dispersed through Afghanistan and Pakistan, is playing a role in forming the new Libyan government was quickly picked up by media as another example of a foreign policy gaffe.
"He’s not suggesting the Taliban is running Libya, he's just saying we did not do a good enough job vetting who the opposition is,” Gordon told NBC News.
Gordon cited several news agencies having to update or correct initial stories after too abruptly reporting Cain had made another gaffe.
“You guys oughtta do your homework,” Gordon said when asked for his reaction to media coverage of the candidate’s remarks. “It's interesting that he knows more than the media in this case."
But it is Al Qaeda, not the Taliban, that U.S. officials most frequently cite as a concern for the role they may play as Libya forms a new government in the wake of Moammar Gadhafi’s death.
Cain’s comments to the editorial board followed a foreign policy debate where he faced criticism for a lack of specificity in his answers, often saying he would rely on the foreign policy advisers around him to make decisions.
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"Well, Herman's certainly now proven what he said the other day - that he looks down his nose at those who read" - dude i know at msnbc thats what they are telling you. and i know you cant figure this out. not because you are stupid, but because of your worldview etc. so this isnt a putdown. just laying the groundwork for why you think what you think is the truth and why you cant figure it out for yourself. so i will explain it to you: he was making a riff on president totus dude. thats what it was about. TOTUS. so everyone who told you the lie was either lieing to you or also didnt understand themselves. they're not bad. they are not dumb, they just dont understand a lot of things. peace bro.
Did you ever study grammar or sentence construction?
At first this idiot stumbled around like a little boy playing with a ball when asked about Libya, like, what the hell is Libya? Now the idiot, and his crew of idiots, have become overnight professionals on Libya saying: "Herman Cain camp suggests Taliban is running Libya"
I guess that's his prerequisite as a Republican, albeit a black one, to do what most Republicans want to do to the entire Middle East. including large swats of Africa...
i.e. NUKE EM!!!!!
Maybe Taliban is running GOP.
I'm sorry I forgot something. How in the hell is Cain even in the picture. I thought Republicans didn't like african american's thats why they were trying to destroy Obama in the first place isn't it ?
Because Cain's the black Rush Limbaugh.
How does a man who does not know where Libya is or who was running it or why we were involved now know that the Taliban is running the country? Cain exhibits signs of craziness that seem to have no end. Pay attention,people. Think about the dangers of a crazy person leading our country at this point in time.
Cain could not answer a simple question. Did he agree or not with President Obama's intervention in Libya? It was not a trick question. Cain and his Republican friends have a little game going where they must criticize the President on every single thing he does. I think Cain momentarily forgot what he was SUPPOSED to do and tried to answer the question but he knew nothing about he subject. The man shows signs of being illiterate where current world information is concerned. Such people in positions of power are dangerous. They also will quickly make this country a laughing stock. We had enough of that during the Bush era-----and Bush looks brilliant in comparison to someone like Cain.
Does anyone truly believe that what this guy says has any credibility, whatsoever?
said a president should lead, not read.
He stole that line from the Simpsons, and the funniest thing was that the guy who said it was a parody of Arnold the Gubbenator, as President:
Yout*be "lead not read"
I thought he said "a breeder not a reader"...damn hearing aids....
Our CIA fought with the Taliban back in the 1980s. Quick, we have to clean up Langley.
Well I guess it's a toss up as to who is the biggest airhead. Somehow their self-destruct devise has been activated!
This reality show just keeps getting better and better. Who needs Snooki? Move over MTV, woot!
Mr Cain,it is obvious that you're not interested in politics.Why do you want to become President of USA ?
Yep,this is a joke. This guy is no more a serious candidate than I am. He is on a book tour for God's sake,that,due to the total lack of competition,turned into a campaign. I would love to poke more fun at him,but its getting old. With the shape of our country right now,to have this egotistical no nothing sucking up any oxygen from the serious issues is a detriment to the process....ok..one more poke...I asked my wife "Newt OR CAIN?"...and she answered,"absolutely!" She thought I said, neuter Cain.....
Cain doesn't have a clue, but his people say the media need to do THEIR homework. How rich. He's finished and irrelevant. Stop clicking on stories involving the finished and irrelevant Bachmann, Gingrich, Cain and Perry. Romney is a liar who just tells people what he thinks they want to hear this week. Ron Paul is right about some things and totally full of crap on the rest. Focus on these idiots who actually have a chance.
patrick1315
That is the saddest part of the whole Cain phenomenon . . . how and why is his ignorance attractive to anyone - i know you dont understand this pat. but just to try to help you, here it is: most folks have a biney choice staring them in the face. current TOTUS or a new one. and 50-60% actually find the current one dumber than any of those choices. i know thats absolutely crazy to you. i know. but you have to understand how mnay things current knows that are absolutely incorrect. hey quick question: is there a correlation of CO2 concentration to temperature? or is it causation? what is the relationship there? just wondering about your science knowledge. if you cared to get all scientific and 'stuff', check out concentrations of CO2 in the past 20,000 years and tell me about the causational relationship. then, take what you've learned and apply it to the last 15 years. and tell me you have science on your side. just as an aside. i know the science thing wasnt your gig. but it would make some of the others perhaps do some research. and maybe learn a little something about science and all. ya know? but dont take my word for it. i am an idiot. as you i am sure are certain. peace out bro.
It's patrick not pat . . . and as for your glaringly transparent effort to somehow opprobriate my post by conducting an off topic discussion with yourself, about what I may or may not know about science and Co2 . . . I'll just accept that the reason you chose not to answer my simple query is merely because you can't . . .
As for the name calling bit . . . that's definitely not my gig, but if you choose to posit yourself as an idiot . . . considering that I have no idea who you are . . .
who am I to argue . . ?
You liberals just don't want a moral, religious government in Libya.
Right, I check your post! I want a moral and religious republican party rather than a Gestapo!
You know, the Republican Party has a long and illustrious history including two of our greatest presidents: Lincoln and TR. Eisenhower, at least one Rockefeller, even Goldwater/Nixon/Ford, possibly Regan, certainly Bush I, had intellectual cores.
But for the love of all things holy, who are these clowns and why are they even on the public stage???? Who could possibly imagine Bachman/Perry/Cain sitting at the same table with EisenhowerNixon/Ford/Bush I, let alone Lincoln or TR? Goldwater would have been thrown out of the party for his position on gays in the military.
I admit that I am a Democrat, and we have had some stinkers, I suppose. But seriously I have lost all respect for the intellectual integrity of the Republican Party. You might not get my vote, but at least strive for my respect.
The Republican Party replaced the Whigs because the Whigs had lost all legitimacy in the public debate. I fear the Republican Party has now lost any reason to participate in the national discussion.
Excellent, Renscholar, very well put.
Are you kidding? Until this week, Cain didn't know what or where Libya was. He thought the Taliban was a deli sandwich.
Simple question that keeps occurring to me in my little corner of the world - I loved, loved Godfather's pizza. We used to have Godfather's Pizza all over this area. There's now one - ONE - that I'm aware of - it's a counterfront tucked in with a Subway in a large gas station on an interstate roadstop. But there is a Little Caesar's Pizza on every other corner around here all over the place. So, if Cain actually "saved" Godfather's pizza is this what he'll do for our country?
No kiddin',he thought stay free mini pads were free gov't housing for dwarfs.....
It's a done deal...Mitt is it !!! oh boy,PETER PANDER v. Obama....Mitty is in for a butt kickin'.....he might even get his hush puppies dirty!!! Wait until he looks deep into the eye's of the guy who got Bin Laden...Ricochet Romney will wet himself....
Palin, Bachmann, and now Cain. Do you see a pattern here? The Republicans clearly don't care about facts or any kind of nuanced views. They are robotic in their dogma. The fact that they show no shame in the face of their exposed gaffes is disgusting. And it's disturbing that people so unqualified can garner so much support as to be viable candidates for high office in this country. My rule is if you don't believe in the fact of evolution, then you are immediately disqualified for public office. There! That in itself would probably eliminate a good 80% of Republicans.
Ribscholar, you are right on. That was a great post. I couldn't have said it better myself.
It would be delightful if, at the next debate, the moderator(s) only asked questions of Romney and Huntsman. I wouldn't vote of either of them, but at least neither is going to try and tell me something completely stupid.
When I look at the "modern day" Teapublican Party. from the top to the bottom, all I can say is: WHERE DID THEY GET SO MANY EMPTY HEADS ???
Their decrepit "leadership" down to their "low information voter base" is filled with nothing more than EMPTY HEADS.
And it's not just THIS YEAR, it's been EVERY YEAR since 2008....it's almost as if the election of Obama caused a simultaneous "brain bleed" in them all that destroyed ALL GRAY MATTER in the heads of Teapublicans and they are now WALKING ZOMBIES like you see in the show....
It's like they have a NEW "PURITY TEST" where you have to take a brief quiz on HISTORY, ECONOMICS, GEOGRAPHY, SIMPLE SCIENCE AND MATH...
IF YOU "PASS" THEY CONDEMN YOU AS A "CLOSET LIBRUL RINO", IF YOU FAIL THEY EMBRACE YOU AS ONE OF THEIR OWN....
Bizarre, isn't it ??????
Putting up clowns like Cain, Bachman, Santorum, Perry is a Republican plot to divert everyone's attention away from Romney who after all is the GOP power structures choice. The plan is to make everyone simply appalled at the number of IDIOTS running for President and in the end saying "well here's Mitt. He's a pretty good guy. Smarter than a fish and the rest aren't. Let's go with Mitt." The one fly in the ointment is whether Ron Paul starts hauling in votes in the Primaries. If he can finish second in either Iowa or New Hampshire then he's going to get some traction finally because he's the last man standing on the far right and he could actually "aw shucks" his way to the front.
But the GOP play remains Romney. Either way though they don't lose. Mitt will do exactly as he's told like GW Bush did and Paul would do everything they want just because he believes that the rich should get richer. Either way the rich win.
As we speak,the Tea party is mounting a huge movement to use everything they have left to stop Obama from being re-eleced. It will be called the "BEAT OBAMA WITH EVERYTHING LEFT" movement. OR the B.O.W.E.L. movement. It is also expected to thin out the gop candidates.
BEAT OBAMA WITH EVERYTHING LEFT" movement. OR the B.O.W.E.L. movement. It is also expected to thin out the gop candidates.
^ What a croc of....oh nevermind. :)