By: Christopher Flickinger
Posted 03/01/06
12:42 PM
The Taliban's former spokesman is now attending Yale University.
According to the
New York Times magazine Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, who served as the Taliban's chief spokesman abroad, is now enrolled as a freshman at Yale on a student visa.
"In some ways I'm the luckiest person in the world," he says. "I could have ended up in Guantánamo Bay. Instead I ended up at Yale," says Hashemi.
From what I’ve read, it appears Hashemi only partially regrets his involvement with the Taliban. And, it should come as no surprise that Yale has taken him in. This nation’s “elite” universities have long been bastions of anti-Americanism. So, why wouldn’t Yale jump at the opportunity to call a former member of the Taliban their own? In fact, I very much doubt there will be any attempt on the university’s part to “reform” Hashemi. Instead, I suspect they’ll be looking to him for tips!
In a related article by the
UK Telegraph, Richard Shaw, the dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Yale, says, "I was a little anxious. …My perception was, 'It's the enemy!' But I walked away with a sense of 'Whoa!' This is a person to be reckoned with and who could educate us about the world."
You can hear more from "Dean" Christopher Flickinger on this story tonight on WBAL’s Bruce Elliott show.
Mr. Flickinger is the "dean" of Human Events U and founder of the Network of Campus Conservatives. He is a native of Pittsburgh, who graduated from Ohio University Scripps School of Journalism with specializations in political science and economics.
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