“We Know Two Are Alive” - CIA Targeter Reveals an Ongoing Hostage Crisis

TL;DR

The US pays the Taliban $87 million weekly while two confirmed American hostages rot in their custody and the White House blocks the law to stop it.

Key Points

• 1.The three Americans: Makmaш Habibi (tortured, being revived just to continue torture, held by Taliban/al-Qaeda), Dennis Cole (held over a year, no charges filed), and Paul Overby (missing 11 years, likely deceased — last seen alive in 2019 per released hostage David Rohde).
• 2.The money: The US sends the Taliban $87 million per week. A law already exists — passed September 2024 — that mandates cutting funding if Americans are being wrongfully detained, but it is not being enforced against the Taliban.
• 3.The Senate blockage: A staff member named Tom West, formerly the US government's official Taliban liaison during the withdrawal, is now a Hill staffer actively lobbying against the funding cutoff. His wife is from a Taliban-connected family. Tulsi Gabbard revoked his security clearance.
• 4.White House interference: Someone inside the White House is also protecting Taliban funding. Trump's own September executive order on wrongful detention has been used in Gaza and Venezuela but never applied to Afghanistan.
• 5.Hostage diplomacy failure: Habibi has a $5M bounty; Dennis Cole has zero. Compared to past failures like Kayla Mueller (died in ISIS custody after State Dept suppressed her kidnapping) and Bob Levenson (died in Iran while billions were handed over with no release condition), the pattern of abandoning hostages is systemic.