dagblog - Comments for "Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'"

Clearly not everyone is on

artappraiser — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:56:24 +0000

In reply to Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'

Clearly not everyone is on board with the above talking points:

Wedding-hall blast kills at least 19, including prominent Afghan lawmaker
By Laura King and Hashmat Baktash, Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber struck a wedding hall packed with VIPs from across northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least 19 people, including a prominent anti-Taliban politician and a high-ranking police official. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which also left dozens injured.

President Hamid Karzai denounced the attack in Aybak, the provincial capital of Samagan province, and ordered a full investigation. He blamed “enemies of the people” -- the usual phrase for the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

The main target of the powerful explosion was apparently the father of the bride, Ahmad Khan Samangani. A member of parliament and a major powerbroker in the north of Afghanistan, he was a close associate of warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, a fellow ethnic Uzbek.

The attack, a sign of growing instability in the country’s relatively peaceful north, could signal either a power struggle among powerful northern warlords, most of them members of ethnic minorities, or a renewed campaign by the Taliban to assassinate leading figures in the Northern Alliance, the former militia that helped drive the group from power [....]

Yeah... You'd think if there

artappraiser — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:45:21 +0000

In reply to As the world turns. Does this

Yeah...

You'd think if there was one Taliban that a majority of Afghans in general had some agreement about and bitter memories about, and might want to see in prison or dead, rather than as president, it might be old one-eye with the Arab friends, and the no music, no kites but plenty o' punishment spectacles ...(That's not to imply that it wouldn't be the case that Karzai might be #2 choice for that fate.)

As the world turns. Does this

moat — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:42:09 +0000

In reply to Mullah Omar can run for

As the world turns.

Does this mean that Omar has come over time to reject the flattery of his "Arab friends" who once referred to him as the next Caliph or did he always think they were playing him for a fool?

We Americans have short memories but we are capable of recalling events that happen within a twenty year horizon.

Mullah Omar can run for

artappraiser — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 23:42:52 +0000

In reply to Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'

Mullah Omar can run for president:Karzai
Agence France Presse, July 12, 2012

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Thursday on Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar to give up fighting his US-backed government in return for the chance to run for president of the war-torn nation [....]

The New Statesman has

artappraiser — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:50:45 +0000

In reply to Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'

The New Statesman has published some "preview" quotes online:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/07/preview-michael-se...

The full interview is only available right now in the print edition; hopefully they will have the full article online after the current issue expires.

An Interview: The Taliban?s

artappraiser — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 05:46:28 +0000

In reply to Taliban commander: we cannot win war and al-Qaida is a 'plague'

An Interview: The Taliban’s Long View
By ALlissa J. Rubin, At War blog @ nytimes.com, July 11, 2012

[....] The wide-ranging interview will appear in full in the July 12 edition of the British political magazine New Statesman. The edition was guest-edited by the British Labour Party politician David Miliband, a former foreign minister who has been a proponent of a political process in Afghanistan that would give the Taliban, along with other groups, a place at the table in determining the country’s path.

The interview was conducted by Michael Semple [....]

The quotes that follow are from the full interview, provided to The New York Times and The Guardian [....]