(Image Source: CNN)

BY STEVEN HSIEH

Just days after Herman Cain grabbed headlines with his now viral Libya gaffe...

“Ok Libya… I do not agree with how he handled it for the following reasons.  Nope, that’s a different one." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

...the former GOP frontrunner blundered once more. While answering questions about his previous Libya slip-up, the Herminator managed to involve the Taliban, and make headlines again.

The Washington Post sums up the story with the headline:

Cain defends Libya stumble, blames reporter, then suggests Taliban running Tripoli

CNN has the footage.

“Do I agree in saying Gaddafi should go?  Do I agree that they now have a country where you got Taliban and Al Qaeda that’s going to be a part of the government?  Do I agree with not knowing what the government was gonna – Which part was he asking me about?”

And the networks did not go easy on Mr. Cain.

WOLF BLITZER: “That would be huge news – if the Taliban were in Libya right now.  And it would be even bigger news if Al Qaeda and the Taliban were going to be part of this new government.”

CHRIS MATTHEWS: “Really, Mr. Cain?  So, first you didn’t know about the Neo-Cons who took us into the war in Iraq, you didn’t know that China has nuclear weapons.  And now, this.” 

The Cain campaign attempted to justify his comment by pointing to Libyan military commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a former Taliban ally who now plays a role in Libya’s transitional government.  Politico reports…

“[Cain spokesman J.D.] Gordon referred to Belhadj as a ‘former Taliban-linked fighter in Afghanistan now leading the militia in Tripoli.’ That’s plainly not the same thing as having ‘Taliban … that’s going to be part of the government,’ as Cain said, but it’s a fair clarification of Cain’s point.”

Conservative blog NewsBusters says the campaign statement proves Mr. Cain knows more than people give him credit for.

“…the Herminator turns out to be demonstrating more knowledge of what’s going on in Libya than the people who supposedly have immersed themselves in the news of the world for years, but who still think they have the presumptive right to ridicule what has turned out to be Cain's fundamentally correct characterization of the situation.”

But a New York Times writer reiterates what many have been wondering since the first Libya gaffe -- whether Cain’s foreign policy knowledge is solid enough for a potential president. She says setting plays a big role whenever the Herminator makes a statement …

“One thing has become clear: Mr. Cain appears more comfortable and controlled when on stage than when he makes impromptu comments.”