Afghans Are Rattled By The U.S. Release Of Five Senior Taliban Leaders

Release Of Taliban Detainees Alarms Afghan Villagers -- Wall Street Journal

Some Recall Scorched-Earth Offensive Led by One of the Freed Prisoners

SHEYKHAN, Afghanistan—Taliban forces led by Mohammed Fazl swept through this village on the Shomali plain north of Kabul in 1999 in a scorched-earth offensive that prompted some 300,000 people to flee for their lives.

Fifteen years later, local residents here are responding with fear and dismay to the U.S. release of the notorious commander, along with four other Taliban leaders in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American prisoner of war who was held by the Taliban. The group released a video on Wednesday showing the hurried handover a few days earlier of the American captive, looking gaunt and dazed.

The villages of Shomali were once the orchard of central Afghanistan, and the plain's carefully tended vineyards were famous for their grapes.

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My Comment: The Afghans know too well who these men are .... and of the crimes that they have committed. Unfortunately .... I do not think that the White House gives a damn on what the average Afghan may be thinking right now.