The Taliban threatened Monday to launch attacks during the swearing in of Afghan President Hamid Karzai while the U.S. military said every precaution was being taken to protect a ceremony to be attended by top U.S. officials. The inauguration will take place on Tuesday morning at Karzai's fortress-like presidential palace in Kabul, and will be witnessed by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as other foreign dignitaries. Mullah Dadullah, the most senior Taliban military commander and a member of the movement's 10-man leadership council, warned people they should stay away from government and military installations throughout Afghanistan during the inauguration. "We do not want to harm innocent people," he said, adding that Taliban guerrillas had been given orders: "If you get a chance, disrupt the ceremony." | They threatened to stop the election,too. That worked well, didn't it? |
| Must be imposters: the real Taliban doesn't worry about harming innocent people. |
He said guerrillas all over the country had been asked to be prepared to launch attacks to remind foreigners that Islamist fighters opposed their occupation of Afghanistan. U.S. military spokesman Major Mark McCann said quick reaction ground and air units from U.S.-led forces and NATO-led peacekeepers were part of a comprehensive plan to counter potential militant action. "Every possible contingency has been planned for," he said. McCann told a news briefing all major routes and venues in Kabul would be well-protected and foreign troop units were standing by to carry out explosives disposal and to provide medical and command and control assistance. VIPs attending have been asked to supply their blood groups as a precaution.
| Doesn't that add a festive air to the inauguration parties? |
McCann said the U.S.-led force, together with the Afghan army and police, planned winter operations throughout Afghanistan, collectively code-named "Lightning Freedom," to create conditions for successful parliamentary polls next spring by squeezing militant groups harder. McCann expressed hope that an offer of amnesty by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to rank and file Taliban who laid down their arms would bear fruit. "There have been from time to time reports from the field that there are members of the Taliban who we believe are receptive to the offer of reconciliation," he said. |