Taliban Holds Up Glenn Beck Flights to Middle East

The Taliban has stymied efforts to slingshot more than a few of their citizens out of country. A flurry of high-profile flights slated to depart from Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, are on the fritz. According to the Qatari envoy, another 200 passengers are scheduled to leave Afghanistan on Friday.

Among the dozens of planes slated to depart for the Middle East, the most noteworthy were the two charter flights funded by Glenn Beck’s Mercury One and the Nazarene Foundation. Although they have yet to make the trek, they were a boon to the local economy. Several of the charters were filled with Americans in the guise of green card holders. However, no Americans were in the throes of the jihad.

While not a panacea, the state of affairs has been made considerably more bearable by the influx of American expats from other climes who’ve been drawn out of the war-torn nation by the military’s redeployment. As it turns out, this has had a pronounced impact on Afghanistan’s GDP, according to analysts. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Texas Rep. Michael McCaul said that the Taliban is keen on securing their place in the sun by recognizing and incorporating the US into their government. Clearly, they’re going to need something to chew on. They’ve got a lot of competition from other jihadists who’ve taken up the fight. That’s a big reason why the U.S. military pulled out of the country in the first place.

On the other hand, the biggest challenge to the United States is integrating the Afghans into the fold. Those who’ve been here for longer than they would care to remember know that it’s a tough nut to crack. This is one of the reasons the CIA’s role in the country is tenuous. It’s not like the CIA is trying to occupy a vacuum, but if they don’t take the initiative to do their share of the heavy lifting, the country could end up in a tailspin.