The Stars & Stripes reports on an interview in UK’s New Statesman of an unnammed Taliban commander who admits that the Taliban can never win against the coalition and blames al Qaeda for their problems;
“Our people consider al-Qaida to be a plague that was sent down to us by the heavens. Some even concluded that al-Qaida are actually the spies of America,” the commander is quoted as saying by author Michael Semple, who conducted the interview. “To tell the truth, I was relieved at the death of Osama (bin Laden). Through his policies, he destroyed Afghanistan. If he really believed in jihad he should have gone to Saudi Arabia and done jihad there, rather than wrecking our country.”
In a full transcript sent to Stars and Stripes by The New Statesman, Semple refers to the man as a “senior surviving commander” and confidant of the Taliban, whose identity he has verified. The commander dismisses Karzai as a stooge of the West: “There is little point in talking to [the Karzai government]. Real authority rests with the Americans,” he says. “The only other serious political force in Afghanistan is that of the Northern Alliance” — which fought Taliban rule and is now a political player in Kabul.
It’s the opinion of one commander, so I guess we can’t expect them to surrender in droves. Besides, if anyone finds out who this single commander is, he’ll be eating shrapnel in a few weeks.
Through bin Laden’s policies, Afghanistan was destroyed? Somebody needs to take a long hard look in the mirror, Mr. Taliban.
It wasn’t al Qaeda that destroyed the Buddhist statues or pushed the Afghanis further back into the stone age.
Pot calling Kettle…ugh, nevermind – whats the point? Fighting, atrocities, and other nasty stuff has been going on for thousands of years. The intrusion of outsiders (Brits, Russians, USA) is only a tiny speed bump. Let them “off” each other-whats the difference? U.S. will always be the “Evil Empire” to them anyway-no matter what we do.