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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban May Return to Power in Afghanistan |
| 2003-02-10 |
| Pravda, read with large dose of salt Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov considers the terrorist movement Taliban may possibly return to power in Afghanistan. âThere are no conditions for prevention of the Taliban new coming to power,â â he said Saturday in his speech at the international conference on terrorism in Munich. You mean, other than the Allied forces there, the new Afghani army, and the fact that the Northern Alliance guys hate Pashtun guts more than they hate each other. âSo far the Khamid Karzai administration does not possess necessary influence in provinces. New terrorist attempts at the Afghan leadership are being committed, while the terrorists are being trained abroad,â â Ivanov said. Nice to see that even Pravda knows that the Talib jokers are being trained in Pak-land. He considers to be necessary to make âcoordinated efforts, including at the international level, to oppose Islamic extremism of any shape.â Sergei Ivanov is especially concerned âwith the situation in the neighbouring north-west province of Pakistan, where the Taliban positions are very strong.â After Americans practically leave Afghanistan to the mercy of fate and focused on Iraq, the Taliban became more active. One of the reasons we have the military we do, Sergei, is that we can do more than two things at once. We're going to remove Saddam, keep an eye on the Dear Leader, and whump Talib butt. Within recent two weeks, 17 attacks against UN missions and international charity organizations were registered. For example, January 26, some unknown persons attacked a column of food cars in the province of Nangarkhar: two people were killed and four injured. The same day, bomb exploded in UN mission in Mazar-i-Sharif. January 27, in the province of Farah, 6 Afghan specialists from UN Agency of Mine Clearing were beaten unmercifully. January 29, a hand-made explosive device was thrown to the mission of the non-governmental organization Action against Hunger in Kandaghar. January 30, some armed persons captured two World Food Programme workers in Kabul outskirts, who happily were later released. All the incidents show worsening of the security situation in the country and stirring up of the Mojahedeen, the Taliban supporters, and Al-Qaida militants. Don't worry, Sergei, we'll keep an eye on it. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 First, this may be close to the default setting for Afghan sectarian/tribal violence. I mean, this is a place where a artist is a guy who can turn out a reproduction Lee-Enfield or Sten gun complete with bogus proof marks. There is a whole town dedicated to that craft in the area. Also, I believe that there is some Islamic prophesy about the Black Banners of Khurrasan (Afghanistan) signifying the coming of the Madhi. So, it is politically advantageous for there to be some signs of resistance to the "Crusaders" taking place. Also, after the hit on the Kurdish leader we can probably see stepped up efforts to take out Karzai and his people. Congrtulations on your blog award from an old Holabird School for Wayward Boys alum. |
| Posted by: woodman 2003-02-10 13:57:08 |
| #3 Seems also that the heating up coincided with Fundo wins in NWFP, but that MUST be coincidence, after all, Pakland doesn't support terrorists or foreign adventurism, right? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-10 10:04:23 |
| #2 Pravda also has a certain amount of experience watching Afghanistan. Yes, we can do both. But the trend line is at best mixed, and Pakistan is providing them the safe sanctuary a guerilla movement needs. In that respect alone, the Taliban's strategic position has strengthened considerably. If they get lucky and hit Karzai, things could go bad in a hurry. No, disaster is not imminent. Yes, we can leave it until after Iraq. But the current situation is unstable, and the current state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue or we're going to have a real problem there. |
| Posted by: Joe Katzman 2003-02-10 10:04:04 |
| #1 Sergei should note that the Talibs bravely attacked unarmed civilian aid organizations. Their record against the Afghan military alone is unimpressive. Methinks that things are heating up in Afghanistan because there's a link between them and Iraq, with Saddam calling in some favors. All the better: They're getting close to their last bullet, so if they get smacked down NOW, they'll be a long time getting back up. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-10 07:15:29 |