The Administration announced it was planning to open direct talks with the Taliban at their brand, spanking new office in Qatar which the Taliban treated as if it were an embassy.

Hamid Karzai, the current thug atop the Afghan food chain, immediately flew into a frenzy and declared he was not only opposed to the U.S. meeting with the Taliban, but was stopping his own negotiations with the U.S. on what military forces would be allowed to remain in Afghanistan after 2014 and under what circumstances. This is known as a Status of Forces (SOFA) agreement.

To show their good faith, the Taliban immediately went out and attacked a convoy, killing at least one NATO soldier; attacked and killed nine tourists in Pakistan, including one American; and to make their week of goodwill complete they launched an attack in central Kabul in which, according to the New York Times, they employed: “Two land cruisers similar to those used by international soldiers here, fake badges and vehicle passes, which allowed at least one to get inside the heavily guarded area, according to Kabul’s deputy police chief.”

This is the way the Taliban feels it needs to prep the conference table to negotiate with Obama.

The fact is there is absolutely no downside risk for a foreign leader or group to give Barack Obama a rhetorical Leroy Jethro Gibbs smack to the back of the head.