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The New York Times Publishes Op-Ed From Taliban Leader

(FILES) In this picture taken on Septemb

(Photo: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

William Davis Contributor
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The New York Times published an op-ed Thursday from a leader of the Taliban, one of the world’s largest terrorist organizations.

The op-ed from Sirajuddin Haqqani was titled “What We, the Taliban Want,” and attempted to explain what the Taliban was looking for in its negotiations with the U.S. (RELATED: Hezbollah Operative Scoped Out Times Square, Statue Of Liberty For Possible Terrorist Attacks, Prosecutors Say)

Haqqani attempted to respond to concerns that the Taliban would once again host terrorist groups like Al-Qaida if the U.S. were to leave Afghanistan. (RELATED: FBI Discovers Homegrown Islamic Terror Compound In Alabama)

“It is not in the interest of any Afghan to allow such groups to hijack our country and turn it into a battleground,” he wrote. “We have already suffered enough from foreign interventions.”

The Times was criticized by some on social media Tuesday for publishing an op-ed from a leader of one of the world’s largest terrorist organizations.

“Is it weird that the New York Times published an op-ed by a Taliban officer?” Becket Adams of The Washington Examiner asked.

“The New York Times just ran an op ed by the deputy leader of the Taliban, a wanted terrorist,” Human Events writer Ian Miles Cheong wrote.

“So just another Thursday as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization leader with ties to the Taliban and al-Qa‘ida in Afghanistan is on the front page of the  @NYTimes with an op-ed,” former Weekly Standard and Wall Street Journal writer Jeryl Bier wrote.

“Taliban leader writes 1000 word oped in the  @nytimes and never once denounces al-Qaida,” national security reporter Paul Miller wrote.