Taliban Are Not Terrorists, or So Says the White House

Even so, the White House does not call the Afghan Taliban a terrorist organization, Earnest explained, because they are “different than an organization like al Qaeda that has a much broader global aspiration to carry out acts of violence and acts of terror against Americans and American interests all around the globe.”

 

The issue has come up because the White House insisted on Wednesday that a prisoner exchange between Jordan and ISIS would be different than the prisoner exchange the United States made last year with the Taliban to gain the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

 

“Our policy is that we don’t pay ransom. We don’t give concessions to terrorist organizations,” Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said Wednesday. “This is a longstanding policy that predates this administration. And it’s also one that we’ve communicated to our friends and allies across the world.”

 

Read More: Taliban Are Not Terrorists, or So Says the White House – ABC News