The Obama administration spiked the proverbial football in the end zone last week over the drone strike that killed Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. President Barack Obama said during his visit to Vietnam that the death of Mansour marked an "important milestone in our longstanding effort to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan."
However, Mansour's announced replacement --- Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada --- flies in the face of any claim about peace and prosperity.
Peter Brian Hegseth, former executive director of Vets For Freedom and author of the new book In the Arena, joined The Glenn Beck Program on Thursday to explain.
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"I don't know why this administration assumes --- they clearly don't learn lessons from this conflict or others --- that very rarely when you cut off the head of the snake with a violent organization like this, [it's] somehow replaced by a moderate who is prepared to negotiate. They're usually replaced by a more violent, a more radical version until you reach a tipping point with an enemy where they don't have those types of people to elevate," Hegseth said.
According to Hegseth, that's exactly the case with the new leader of the Taliban.
"So now they've replaced him with a kind of, in more ways, a spiritual figure --- more religious, less likely to be a low-level religious figure," Hegseth said.
In fact, from what Hegseth has seen and heard, this leader is more likely to shun peace talks and intensify attacks against the Afghan government.
Guest host Buck Sexton, a former CIA intelligence analyst, asked Hegseth if he could pin down the Obama administration's policy in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
"Pete, you served in Afghanistan a number of years ago with the Army. I was there as an Intel officer some years ago. So we've both been in the stand," Buck said. "If you had to define Obama's strategy in Afghanistan as you see it now, what is it?"
Unfortunately, it seems based on wishful thinking rather than objective reality.
"I think it's buy time and hope something good happens, which is why I think the killing and the immediate reaction that it could create an opportunity for peace talks was wishful thinking," Hegseth said. "The approach is clearly drifting. And I think this administration just doesn't want another mess on their hands before the next inauguration."
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: Pakistani Sunni Muslim supporters of hard line pro-Taliban party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Nazaryati (JUI-N) torch a US flag during a protest in Quetta on May 25, 2016, against a US drone strike in Pakistan's southwestern province Balochistan in which killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour. The Afghan Taliban on May 25 announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike. (Photo Credit: BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)