A Taliban leader, Jalaluldin Haqqani, on Wednesday warned Afghans not to work with the government or the Afghan army and "occupation forces" in an audio recording released on Al-Jazeera television. "We warn all those who work with the porous government, in the national army, with the occupation forces or in the adminsitrative system, to refrain from doing so," he said in the recording described by the Qatar-based channel as the first by the Taliban chief since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.Since being chased from power by the US-led military coalition, the Taliban have joined criminal groups and various mafias in a rebellion against the Afghan government and its military allies.
| I keep coming back to the idea that the enemy consists of comic book or pulp magazine-style villains. The talk like comic book villains, their tactics are those of comic book villains, and they fergawdsake look like comic book villains. There's no subtlety to them, not even a good set of lies. There's no talk of "throwing off the yoke of foreign oppression," no promises — however false — of freedom and dignity. They brazenly intend to impose a yoke of domestic oppression on Afghanistan (and the same applies in Iraq and in Kashmir and wherever else you find turbans) and they're openly antithetical to the very concept of freedom. Perhaps that comic book aspect is why the Europublic and a considerable portion of our own American public doesn't seem to take them seriously. In any sort of reasonable world, these guys would either be wearing jackets with very long arms or be hunted down and killed without mercy, wherever they exist. Instead, the political set tries to ignore them or dismiss them, while jockeying for short term position, be it the next election or who gets the next gas contract or arms sale. I used to think I was a pretty smart fellow, but I'm obviously missing something here, because the reaction of those who should be expected to know better just doesn't make sense. |