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  • Ahmed Shah Masoud; why i fight

    Jean-Marie Montali

    Figaro Magazine, December 5, 1998

    "Massood: Why I Am Fighting"

    followed by

    Commander Massood’s Plea

    The wind blows from the plain, leaving behind clouds of dust, then it bursts, charged with sand, to the Panjshir Valley where it polishes the tombstone-like ruins. All this dust – a chaste veil thrown upon the misery – covers the debris of villages destroyed methodically during 20 years of war.

    A mountain rising high in the sky dominates other crags and overhangs Jangalak, the village of Commander Massood. The name of the mountain means "the fort". It is true that the mountains of the Panjshir are real strongholds on which all armies stumble: the Red Army yesterday, the Taleban militia today.

    Massood’s house is built above the river, on the ruins of that of his father destroyed by the Soviets more than 10 years ago. In the garden, in the shadow of fruit trees, a small crowd is waiting for the legendary "Lion of Panjshir":emerald merchants, warlords, civil authority officials and mullahs, workers (they are constructing a library in the interior garden), three Poles (they have come to negotiate about precious stones), a wounded young man who is sitting on the steps with his artificial leg in the middle of the path. While waiting for Massood, everyone is drinking green tea.

    Ahmad Shah Massood. Forty-five years old and four children. Three girls: Fatima, Aicha and the little Maria who is afraid of planes. A boy, the eldest, aged 10: Ahmed wants to become a pilot or a doctor. Massood is the son of an officer, a former student of Kabul high school and of the Afghan Polytechnic School. Islamist even before the meaning of the word was known in the West, in 1975 he organized an uprising against President Daoud, judged too close to the communists (he had just overthrown the king with their help) and too close to Moscow. This was a failure. He escaped to Pakistan. Then the Soviets invaded the country. Massood and his men inflicted a defeat on the world’s most powerful army. Several small groups of poorly equipped mountaineers liberated their country. Since then a civil war has been raging. Massood finally arrives: of medium height, with a nervous figure, a hawkish face, dark almond-shaped eyes. His beard is short and on his forehead wrinkles are deep set to the bone.

    Massood immediately takes interest in his visitors. He promises the wounded young man to send him to India or to China for treatment. He promises civilian officials to reconstruct a destroyed bridge in order to stem the advance of the Taliban. He fixes prices with the emerald traders. The Poles obtain exclusive rights to trade the precious stones around the world for 5 years. He assures his commanders that warm clothes will be provided for the soldiers before winter. Massood takes care of everything in the minute details. A question of character. This is his strength, but also his weakness: his men are not always up to the mark. He is the only one to decide about his schedule, which he keeps secret up to the last moment. A question of survival. His schedule? That of a warlord but also of a statesman who negotiates about the alliances, and of a diplomat who travels around the region seeking help: Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan.

    In the evening, when the sun disappears behind the mountain and when a frosty wind is beating at the faces like a hail of shot, Massood invites us into the house where he usually places his guests. A servant brings tea and grapes. Massood serves and explains that grapes were better several weeks ago. He is happy to speak French with us.

    " Democracy," he says, "remains the best political system. A moderate government preaching an open Islam is the only one capable of preventing fanaticism and instability. I want a nationally elected government for my country. I want to live in a country where women would not only vote but also would actively participate in political life through seating in Parliament for example."

    In order to explain the war, Massood agrees, for the first time, to write an article. He dictates it to one of his assistants but is not satisfied with the first version. Neither with the second, nor with the third and some others. He corrects, restarts, evaluates every phrase, every word. Finally, he likes the seventh version. He signs it. It is the article we publish today. It is his explanation for the war. A vision inevitably partisan, subjective. But it has the advantage of being clear.



    Commander Massood’s Plea

    In the Name of God (1)

    Ten years have passed since the Red Army evacuated Afghanistan (2), but war is still going on and the bloodshed has never stopped.

    What are the reasons for such a course of events? And who is responsible for this situation?

    It is usually considered around the world that the Afghans themselves are the only reason: it is said that the longevity of the conflict is due to the struggle for power, or linguistic and ethnic divisions inside the country.

    This point of view is nothing but partisan. In my opinion, the war cannot be understood without two other very major points.

    Firstly, the West has forgotten Afghanistan. The defeat of the Red Army and the collapse of the Soviet Empire relieved the West; and Afghanistan, after being the first line of defense against communism, is no longer of interest to the Western countries.

    The second point is the evolution of politics in Pakistan, which seeks to become a regional power. A boundary dispute has existed between our countries about the Durand Line (3) for a very long time, and Pakistan tries to take advantage of the unstable situation to reinforce its power. For Pakistan, the task has been simplified, from the beginning of Jihad against the Soviets, by the existence of millions of Afghan refugees fleeing Afghanistan, and by the settling of the main Afghan Mujahed parties in Pakistan: everything was ready for Pakistan’s government to exercise its influence in certain Afghan circles. So much so that they managed to take control of international aid destined to refugees and to the Mujaheddin. They manipulated this aid by favoring the factions compliant to Pakistan.

    Thus, through infiltration of Afghan parties and by playing the role of the Mujaheddin representative before the world community, Pakistan deliberately prevented unity and coordination between different resisting groups.

    The Pakistani leaders thought they could strengthen Pakistan’s national security on the one hand and on the other, that they could enlarge its zone of political and economic influence. The final purpose of this strategy is creating a Pakistani-sponsored government for Afghanistan. The Pakistani think that they will obtain a number of advantages by putting Afghanistan under their protectorate.


    Strategic depth: since it was created, Pakistan has had tensions not only with Afghanistan but also with India over Kashmir (4). It is threatened from the South and from the North. That is why, from the Pakistani point of view, a puppet government in Afghanistan would be not just of economic interest but also of crucial importance for its national defense. The question is vital: in case of a conflict with India, this will assure a great strategic depth and thus reinforce Pakistan’s capacity to resist.


    Taking control over the unexploited natural resources of Afghanistan.


    Using Afghanistan as a springboard in order to export its influence to the rest of Central Asia and as a transit way to this part of the world.


    Putting an end once and forever to the dispute over the Durand Line. A stable, victorious and peaceful Afghanistan could demand revision of the boundary treaty.

    All these points taken into consideration, Pakistan considers the Afghan question as that of national security. In this context its policy concerning our country is not led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is led by the Pakistani military. That is why changing the minister of foreign affairs has never changed anything to the situation.

    The collapse of Dr Najibullah’s (5) communist regime in the spring of 1371 according to our solar calendar (6) and the Mujaheddin victory at creating the Shura-e-Nezar (7) were badly taken by Pakistani secret services. It was a shameful failure for them, as they had bet on other Afghan groups and those groups did not take part in taking Kabul. What is more, the creation of a new Afghan government made Pakistan extremely anxious: it was a victorious government of those having overthrown communists and detaining considerable stocks of arms and war material, like Scud missiles and American Stingers.

    The Pakistani military did not have enough courage to recognize their errors and chose a policy of weakening the Mujaheddin government. They certainly made use of divisions between different groups.

    Firstly, they encouraged and armed their old friend Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (8). They pushed him to rebel against the Mujaheddin government. The idea of the Pakistani military was to replace communism by another form of extremism: Islamic extremism. They used religion abundantly in order to support Hekmatyar, who was already known for his atrocities during Jihad. But fortunately, the world quickly understood the Pakistani error. Hekmatyar’s close ties with terrorist networks around the world were widely known, as well as his implication in certain murders that had plunged several countries into mourning.

    As soon as Hekmatyar’s weakness became evident, Pakistan immediately created another extremist group of similar violence, the Taleban. By manipulating these ignorant people, the Pakistani military hope to enlarge zone of their influence up to Central Asia, now in desperate search of its roots in Islam. However, Pakistan alone is unable to maintain the Taleban both politically and economically. It has consequently deceived the USA and Saudi Arabia in order to make them pay the bill of this support.

    Pakistan has never presented the Taleban as a fundamentalist group, but rather as a retrograde movement without any extraterritorial ambition, the action of which would be limited to Afghan territory. At the same time, it has presented them as a buffer force against Iran. Pakistan convinced the USA that through the Taleban they would be able to exercise pressure on Iran from its eastern borders. And in order to reduce the possible Western reaction to the Taleban policy of apartheid against women and young girls, Pakistan called it simply provisional tactics.

    The Americans believed that the Taleban takeover would be of certain economic interest for them. The project of a gas pipe-line through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India was based on this hope and Americans wanted to get maximum profit of it.

    Washington made a mistake during Jihad when they trusted Pakistan for its Afghan politics and relations with Afghan Mujaheddin parties. This attitude left the United States trailing behind Pakistan as far as Afghanistan is concerned. The USA accepted to look at Afghanistan through Pakistani glasses.

    After the collapse of Dr Najibullah’s regime and the Mujaheddin victory the Americans persisted in their mistake, regardless of the policy of interference led by Pakistan in contradiction with international law.

    The results of such Pakistani politics are: Afghanistan becoming the world’s largest drug supplier and terrorist base. For those who follow the course of events in Afghanistan, it is interesting to note that countries of the free world and the United Nations learn no lesson of all these mistakes as long as they are not themselves the victims of the Taleban venom.

    Ms. Emma Bonino, the first European representative, was arrested in Kabul with those who accompanied her, and threatened by the Taleban for several hours. The world should have drawn conclusions from this and should have prepared to face them.

    After the Taleban takeover of Kabul in Mizan 1375 (September 1996) the United Nations compound was attacked and broken in, and Dr Najibullah, who had been living there, was hanged. This demonstrated, if need be, that the Taleban had no consideration, no respect for the UNO. Moreover, the following year a high UN official was publicly humiliated and beaten by a senior Taleban.

    So many examples should have been enough for the UNO to realize what the Taleban really are. However, the weakness of this organization, its timorousness, led to the death of Carmine Calo, an Italian officer on duty in Kabul, who was assassinated the day that followed American shelling of Osama Bin Laden’s base.

    The Americans delegated their Afghan politics to Pakistan, and this fact explains their failures during the last two decades. The Americans followed Pakistan in supporting Gulbuddin Hekmatyar until the explosion in New York’s World Trade Center (9). It was proved that the terrorists had been trained in Hekmatyar’s camps. As for the American favorable attitude toward the Taleban, it has been somewhat put into question by the terrorist attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (10).

    I want to attract your attention to the fact that mullah Omar, the Taleban leader, and Bin Laden are linked by ties of blood (11). Mullah Omar has offered refuge to Bin Laden and brings him explicit assistance. Mr Turky al-Faysal, the chief of Saudi intelligence services, visited Kandahar in order to obtain Bin Laden’s handover. The Taleban insulted and humiliated him (12).

    It should be understood that the Taleban do not at all consider themselves guilty of these terrorist acts. They wait for the Saudi gratitude for the death of the kafirs (infidels) and think that God has blessed them for this murder.

    In my opinion it is not so difficult to understand the true nature of the Taleban. These are the people who take their mothers and sisters for kaniz (servants) and their brothers for ghulam (slaves). If the West and the Arab world are incapable to see such a clear, such an evident reality, it means that the game played by Pakistan has cheated and blinded them.

    My point of view as to Pakistani politics is extremely clear: every country has the right to think about its national and international interests. Unfortunately, to implement its Afghan strategy Pakistan uses the most unjust and most partisan measures known in history.

    Pakistan’s government arms and manipulates bands, encourages them to wage war and to impose blockades in our country, which prevents the circulation of goods and people. All this leaves profound and painful scars on our people.

    Hundreds of carriages and vehicles were dynamited by pro-Pakistani elements. Pieces of metal were sold at marketplaces in Pakistan.

    The destruction of irrigation canals and dams was planned then executed.

    Agriculture is at a standstill.

    Trees in the forests are cut down without pity, and wood is being sold to Pakistan without any restrictions. Historical monuments have been destructed. Museum collections are being sold to Pakistan for nothing.

    Under different fallacious pretexts, government officials were dismissed and some of them imprisoned. All administration networks were thus destructed in Afghanistan. Schools and madrasas (religious schools) were closed. Simultaneously, Pakistan encourages opening schools for young Afghan refugees in Peshawar and in Quetta. People have been compelled to leave their country, to lose their national pride and their patriotic identity. By provoking divisions between ethnic groups and political parties, Pakistan obtained the disintegration of the Afghan army. The majority of ex-army officers are found today in the streets of Pakistani cities. They have to do unqualified construction work to earn their living.

    These ethnic and linguistic divisions, which have been exacerbated in the Afghan population by the Pakistani military have provoked an unprecedented bloody war in our country. Last summer, for example, at the Taleban takeover of Mazar-i-Sharif thousands of persons were assassinated because of their ethnicity or religion (13). The hatred provoked by these divisions spreads like a fire and the Taleban continue their policy of ethnic cleansing. Thousands of families have been compelled to migrate, hundreds of women and young girls have been kidnapped.

    The situation of women in Taleban-controlled zones is disastrous and worse than it is believed. They treat women as beings for whom work and study are forbidden. They do not have the right to go out of home freely and even they cannot even be treated in hospitals.

    What is happening today in Afghanistan is not simply a war. It is a real tragedy which poisons the countries of the region day after day: other countries run the risk of soon experiencing the same situation. Indeed, the training of hundreds of terrorists at the Afghan border by Pakistani officers and their Taleban collaborators could quickly spread the war to the neighboring countries. There are in these countries armed men from Kashmir, rebels from Ferghana (a valley in Uzbekistan, NDRL) and from the Chinese province of Xin Chiang (14), formed and militarily trained in terrorists’ camps.

    Finally, with the enlargement of the Taleban-controlled zone the poppy production is increasing. According to the latest data of this year, Afghanistan has produced 3,200 tons of opium - 16% more than last year.

    The Taleban have imposed a tax on opium, oschor (a religious term for tax, it amounts to 10%, NDRL). This tax explains three things:

    - the growth of the Taleban financial resources,

    - the religious legalization of poppy production (15),

    - the encouragement for the peasants to practice such production.

    Taleban chiefs and Pakistani senior officers are directly involved in drug trafficking. Everyone assures the transit of his share of drugs by air or land to Central Asia and then to the United States and Europe.

    My compatriots and I were waiting for gratitude from all over the world after the victory over communism, and for the world’s assistance so that we could quickly cure the wounds of Jihad. Our Muslim people sacrificed itself to save millions of lives around the world and to defend liberty.

    But Pakistan stabbed us in the back, the United States listened only to Pakistan and Europe was indifferent.

    However, it is crucial for the world to realize that the Taleban danger is no less than the communist one.

    It is still time to face it.

    Once again the Afghan people is on the first line of defense against terrorism, drugs, against those who deny human rights, and who in fact do not recognize or respect anything.

    Inside the country our people is ready to struggle. It is waiting for a good moment to revolt. What the world could do to help us stop this human tragedy consists in to major points:

    - urgent humanitarian supplies for the Afghan people,

    - pressure on Pakistan so that it stops its interference in Afghanistan.

    Commander Massood



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    1) Traditional phrase used at the beginning of every official document.


    2) 15 February, 1989.


    3) Named after Mortimer Durand, a British officer who demarcated the boundary between the two countries.


    4) Former Indian State now divided between India and Pakistan. Since 1947, both India and Pakistan have claimed the entire state of Kashmir.


    5) Najibullah became president of Afghanistan on May 9, 1986 after having served as the Chief of Khad, the terrifying secret police.


    6) April 1992.


    7) "The Council of the North", an organization of Afghan resistance created by Commander Massood.


    8) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is the leader of Hezb-e-Islami, a violently anti-Western party. However, it was he who gained American support during the war.


    9) Hekmatyar proposed political refuge to Omar Abdul Rahman, mastermind of the World Trade Center attack in New York (six people killed and a thousand injured on 16 February, 1993)


    10) These two attacks on August 7, 1998 made 252 dead (including 12 Americans) and more than 5,000 wounded.


    11) It is believed Mullah Omar married one of the daughters of Usama Bin Laden.


    12) According to sources close to Commander Massood, it was done at the American request. It is said the Taleban accused the Saudi secret services chief of being "a pro-American prostitute".


    13) Here Commander Massood makes an allusion to the massacre of the Hazaras, a Shiite ethnicity, while the Taleban are Sunnites. According to Massood, about 6, 000 people were assassinated in the city of Mazar. According to the leader of Hezb-e-wahdat, the Shiite Hazara Mohaqiq, the Taleban have killed more than 20, 000 people over the region.


    14) A region with an important Muslin presence.


    15) Religious legalization of poppy is much more important than a simple civil legalization could be.
    Attached Files
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    He was just an oridary person, his hard feelings towards the Afghans would never be forgotten.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by troung View Post
      Jean-Marie Montali

      Figaro Magazine, December 5, 1998

      "Massood: Why I Am Fighting"

      followed by

      Commander Massood’s Plea

      The wind blows from the plain, leaving behind clouds of dust, then it bursts, charged with sand, to the Panjshir Valley where it polishes the tombstone-like ruins. All this dust – a chaste veil thrown upon the misery – covers the debris of villages destroyed methodically during 20 years of war.

      A mountain rising high in the sky dominates other crags and overhangs Jangalak, the village of Commander Massood. The name of the mountain means "the fort". It is true that the mountains of the Panjshir are real strongholds on which all armies stumble: the Red Army yesterday, the Taleban militia today.

      Massood’s house is built above the river, on the ruins of that of his father destroyed by the Soviets more than 10 years ago. In the garden, in the shadow of fruit trees, a small crowd is waiting for the legendary "Lion of Panjshir":emerald merchants, warlords, civil authority officials and mullahs, workers (they are constructing a library in the interior garden), three Poles (they have come to negotiate about precious stones), a wounded young man who is sitting on the steps with his artificial leg in the middle of the path. While waiting for Massood, everyone is drinking green tea.

      Ahmad Shah Massood. Forty-five years old and four children. Three girls: Fatima, Aicha and the little Maria who is afraid of planes. A boy, the eldest, aged 10: Ahmed wants to become a pilot or a doctor. Massood is the son of an officer, a former student of Kabul high school and of the Afghan Polytechnic School. Islamist even before the meaning of the word was known in the West, in 1975 he organized an uprising against President Daoud, judged too close to the communists (he had just overthrown the king with their help) and too close to Moscow. This was a failure. He escaped to Pakistan. Then the Soviets invaded the country. Massood and his men inflicted a defeat on the world’s most powerful army. Several small groups of poorly equipped mountaineers liberated their country. Since then a civil war has been raging. Massood finally arrives: of medium height, with a nervous figure, a hawkish face, dark almond-shaped eyes. His beard is short and on his forehead wrinkles are deep set to the bone.

      Massood immediately takes interest in his visitors. He promises the wounded young man to send him to India or to China for treatment. He promises civilian officials to reconstruct a destroyed bridge in order to stem the advance of the Taliban. He fixes prices with the emerald traders. The Poles obtain exclusive rights to trade the precious stones around the world for 5 years. He assures his commanders that warm clothes will be provided for the soldiers before winter. Massood takes care of everything in the minute details. A question of character. This is his strength, but also his weakness: his men are not always up to the mark. He is the only one to decide about his schedule, which he keeps secret up to the last moment. A question of survival. His schedule? That of a warlord but also of a statesman who negotiates about the alliances, and of a diplomat who travels around the region seeking help: Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan.

      In the evening, when the sun disappears behind the mountain and when a frosty wind is beating at the faces like a hail of shot, Massood invites us into the house where he usually places his guests. A servant brings tea and grapes. Massood serves and explains that grapes were better several weeks ago. He is happy to speak French with us.

      " Democracy," he says, "remains the best political system. A moderate government preaching an open Islam is the only one capable of preventing fanaticism and instability. I want a nationally elected government for my country. I want to live in a country where women would not only vote but also would actively participate in political life through seating in Parliament for example."

      In order to explain the war, Massood agrees, for the first time, to write an article. He dictates it to one of his assistants but is not satisfied with the first version. Neither with the second, nor with the third and some others. He corrects, restarts, evaluates every phrase, every word. Finally, he likes the seventh version. He signs it. It is the article we publish today. It is his explanation for the war. A vision inevitably partisan, subjective. But it has the advantage of being clear.



      Commander Massood’s Plea

      In the Name of God (1)

      Ten years have passed since the Red Army evacuated Afghanistan (2), but war is still going on and the bloodshed has never stopped.

      What are the reasons for such a course of events? And who is responsible for this situation?

      It is usually considered around the world that the Afghans themselves are the only reason: it is said that the longevity of the conflict is due to the struggle for power, or linguistic and ethnic divisions inside the country.

      This point of view is nothing but partisan. In my opinion, the war cannot be understood without two other very major points.

      Firstly, the West has forgotten Afghanistan. The defeat of the Red Army and the collapse of the Soviet Empire relieved the West; and Afghanistan, after being the first line of defense against communism, is no longer of interest to the Western countries.

      The second point is the evolution of politics in Pakistan, which seeks to become a regional power. A boundary dispute has existed between our countries about the Durand Line (3) for a very long time, and Pakistan tries to take advantage of the unstable situation to reinforce its power. For Pakistan, the task has been simplified, from the beginning of Jihad against the Soviets, by the existence of millions of Afghan refugees fleeing Afghanistan, and by the settling of the main Afghan Mujahed parties in Pakistan: everything was ready for Pakistan’s government to exercise its influence in certain Afghan circles. So much so that they managed to take control of international aid destined to refugees and to the Mujaheddin. They manipulated this aid by favoring the factions compliant to Pakistan.

      Thus, through infiltration of Afghan parties and by playing the role of the Mujaheddin representative before the world community, Pakistan deliberately prevented unity and coordination between different resisting groups.

      The Pakistani leaders thought they could strengthen Pakistan’s national security on the one hand and on the other, that they could enlarge its zone of political and economic influence. The final purpose of this strategy is creating a Pakistani-sponsored government for Afghanistan. The Pakistani think that they will obtain a number of advantages by putting Afghanistan under their protectorate.


      Strategic depth: since it was created, Pakistan has had tensions not only with Afghanistan but also with India over Kashmir (4). It is threatened from the South and from the North. That is why, from the Pakistani point of view, a puppet government in Afghanistan would be not just of economic interest but also of crucial importance for its national defense. The question is vital: in case of a conflict with India, this will assure a great strategic depth and thus reinforce Pakistan’s capacity to resist.


      Taking control over the unexploited natural resources of Afghanistan.


      Using Afghanistan as a springboard in order to export its influence to the rest of Central Asia and as a transit way to this part of the world.


      Putting an end once and forever to the dispute over the Durand Line. A stable, victorious and peaceful Afghanistan could demand revision of the boundary treaty.

      All these points taken into consideration, Pakistan considers the Afghan question as that of national security. In this context its policy concerning our country is not led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is led by the Pakistani military. That is why changing the minister of foreign affairs has never changed anything to the situation.

      The collapse of Dr Najibullah’s (5) communist regime in the spring of 1371 according to our solar calendar (6) and the Mujaheddin victory at creating the Shura-e-Nezar (7) were badly taken by Pakistani secret services. It was a shameful failure for them, as they had bet on other Afghan groups and those groups did not take part in taking Kabul. What is more, the creation of a new Afghan government made Pakistan extremely anxious: it was a victorious government of those having overthrown communists and detaining considerable stocks of arms and war material, like Scud missiles and American Stingers.

      The Pakistani military did not have enough courage to recognize their errors and chose a policy of weakening the Mujaheddin government. They certainly made use of divisions between different groups.

      Firstly, they encouraged and armed their old friend Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (8). They pushed him to rebel against the Mujaheddin government. The idea of the Pakistani military was to replace communism by another form of extremism: Islamic extremism. They used religion abundantly in order to support Hekmatyar, who was already known for his atrocities during Jihad. But fortunately, the world quickly understood the Pakistani error. Hekmatyar’s close ties with terrorist networks around the world were widely known, as well as his implication in certain murders that had plunged several countries into mourning.

      As soon as Hekmatyar’s weakness became evident, Pakistan immediately created another extremist group of similar violence, the Taleban. By manipulating these ignorant people, the Pakistani military hope to enlarge zone of their influence up to Central Asia, now in desperate search of its roots in Islam. However, Pakistan alone is unable to maintain the Taleban both politically and economically. It has consequently deceived the USA and Saudi Arabia in order to make them pay the bill of this support.

      Pakistan has never presented the Taleban as a fundamentalist group, but rather as a retrograde movement without any extraterritorial ambition, the action of which would be limited to Afghan territory. At the same time, it has presented them as a buffer force against Iran. Pakistan convinced the USA that through the Taleban they would be able to exercise pressure on Iran from its eastern borders. And in order to reduce the possible Western reaction to the Taleban policy of apartheid against women and young girls, Pakistan called it simply provisional tactics.

      The Americans believed that the Taleban takeover would be of certain economic interest for them. The project of a gas pipe-line through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India was based on this hope and Americans wanted to get maximum profit of it.

      Washington made a mistake during Jihad when they trusted Pakistan for its Afghan politics and relations with Afghan Mujaheddin parties. This attitude left the United States trailing behind Pakistan as far as Afghanistan is concerned. The USA accepted to look at Afghanistan through Pakistani glasses.

      After the collapse of Dr Najibullah’s regime and the Mujaheddin victory the Americans persisted in their mistake, regardless of the policy of interference led by Pakistan in contradiction with international law.

      The results of such Pakistani politics are: Afghanistan becoming the world’s largest drug supplier and terrorist base. For those who follow the course of events in Afghanistan, it is interesting to note that countries of the free world and the United Nations learn no lesson of all these mistakes as long as they are not themselves the victims of the Taleban venom.

      Ms. Emma Bonino, the first European representative, was arrested in Kabul with those who accompanied her, and threatened by the Taleban for several hours. The world should have drawn conclusions from this and should have prepared to face them.

      After the Taleban takeover of Kabul in Mizan 1375 (September 1996) the United Nations compound was attacked and broken in, and Dr Najibullah, who had been living there, was hanged. This demonstrated, if need be, that the Taleban had no consideration, no respect for the UNO. Moreover, the following year a high UN official was publicly humiliated and beaten by a senior Taleban.

      So many examples should have been enough for the UNO to realize what the Taleban really are. However, the weakness of this organization, its timorousness, led to the death of Carmine Calo, an Italian officer on duty in Kabul, who was assassinated the day that followed American shelling of Osama Bin Laden’s base.

      The Americans delegated their Afghan politics to Pakistan, and this fact explains their failures during the last two decades. The Americans followed Pakistan in supporting Gulbuddin Hekmatyar until the explosion in New York’s World Trade Center (9). It was proved that the terrorists had been trained in Hekmatyar’s camps. As for the American favorable attitude toward the Taleban, it has been somewhat put into question by the terrorist attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (10).

      I want to attract your attention to the fact that mullah Omar, the Taleban leader, and Bin Laden are linked by ties of blood (11). Mullah Omar has offered refuge to Bin Laden and brings him explicit assistance. Mr Turky al-Faysal, the chief of Saudi intelligence services, visited Kandahar in order to obtain Bin Laden’s handover. The Taleban insulted and humiliated him (12).

      It should be understood that the Taleban do not at all consider themselves guilty of these terrorist acts. They wait for the Saudi gratitude for the death of the kafirs (infidels) and think that God has blessed them for this murder.

      In my opinion it is not so difficult to understand the true nature of the Taleban. These are the people who take their mothers and sisters for kaniz (servants) and their brothers for ghulam (slaves). If the West and the Arab world are incapable to see such a clear, such an evident reality, it means that the game played by Pakistan has cheated and blinded them.

      My point of view as to Pakistani politics is extremely clear: every country has the right to think about its national and international interests. Unfortunately, to implement its Afghan strategy Pakistan uses the most unjust and most partisan measures known in history.

      Pakistan’s government arms and manipulates bands, encourages them to wage war and to impose blockades in our country, which prevents the circulation of goods and people. All this leaves profound and painful scars on our people.

      Hundreds of carriages and vehicles were dynamited by pro-Pakistani elements. Pieces of metal were sold at marketplaces in Pakistan.

      The destruction of irrigation canals and dams was planned then executed.

      Agriculture is at a standstill.

      Trees in the forests are cut down without pity, and wood is being sold to Pakistan without any restrictions. Historical monuments have been destructed. Museum collections are being sold to Pakistan for nothing.

      Under different fallacious pretexts, government officials were dismissed and some of them imprisoned. All administration networks were thus destructed in Afghanistan. Schools and madrasas (religious schools) were closed. Simultaneously, Pakistan encourages opening schools for young Afghan refugees in Peshawar and in Quetta. People have been compelled to leave their country, to lose their national pride and their patriotic identity. By provoking divisions between ethnic groups and political parties, Pakistan obtained the disintegration of the Afghan army. The majority of ex-army officers are found today in the streets of Pakistani cities. They have to do unqualified construction work to earn their living.

      These ethnic and linguistic divisions, which have been exacerbated in the Afghan population by the Pakistani military have provoked an unprecedented bloody war in our country. Last summer, for example, at the Taleban takeover of Mazar-i-Sharif thousands of persons were assassinated because of their ethnicity or religion (13). The hatred provoked by these divisions spreads like a fire and the Taleban continue their policy of ethnic cleansing. Thousands of families have been compelled to migrate, hundreds of women and young girls have been kidnapped.

      The situation of women in Taleban-controlled zones is disastrous and worse than it is believed. They treat women as beings for whom work and study are forbidden. They do not have the right to go out of home freely and even they cannot even be treated in hospitals.

      What is happening today in Afghanistan is not simply a war. It is a real tragedy which poisons the countries of the region day after day: other countries run the risk of soon experiencing the same situation. Indeed, the training of hundreds of terrorists at the Afghan border by Pakistani officers and their Taleban collaborators could quickly spread the war to the neighboring countries. There are in these countries armed men from Kashmir, rebels from Ferghana (a valley in Uzbekistan, NDRL) and from the Chinese province of Xin Chiang (14), formed and militarily trained in terrorists’ camps.

      Finally, with the enlargement of the Taleban-controlled zone the poppy production is increasing. According to the latest data of this year, Afghanistan has produced 3,200 tons of opium - 16% more than last year.

      The Taleban have imposed a tax on opium, oschor (a religious term for tax, it amounts to 10%, NDRL). This tax explains three things:

      - the growth of the Taleban financial resources,

      - the religious legalization of poppy production (15),

      - the encouragement for the peasants to practice such production.

      Taleban chiefs and Pakistani senior officers are directly involved in drug trafficking. Everyone assures the transit of his share of drugs by air or land to Central Asia and then to the United States and Europe.

      My compatriots and I were waiting for gratitude from all over the world after the victory over communism, and for the world’s assistance so that we could quickly cure the wounds of Jihad. Our Muslim people sacrificed itself to save millions of lives around the world and to defend liberty.

      But Pakistan stabbed us in the back, the United States listened only to Pakistan and Europe was indifferent.

      However, it is crucial for the world to realize that the Taleban danger is no less than the communist one.

      It is still time to face it.

      Once again the Afghan people is on the first line of defense against terrorism, drugs, against those who deny human rights, and who in fact do not recognize or respect anything.

      Inside the country our people is ready to struggle. It is waiting for a good moment to revolt. What the world could do to help us stop this human tragedy consists in to major points:

      - urgent humanitarian supplies for the Afghan people,

      - pressure on Pakistan so that it stops its interference in Afghanistan.

      Commander Massood



      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------



      1) Traditional phrase used at the beginning of every official document.


      2) 15 February, 1989.


      3) Named after Mortimer Durand, a British officer who demarcated the boundary between the two countries.


      4) Former Indian State now divided between India and Pakistan. Since 1947, both India and Pakistan have claimed the entire state of Kashmir.


      5) Najibullah became president of Afghanistan on May 9, 1986 after having served as the Chief of Khad, the terrifying secret police.


      6) April 1992.


      7) "The Council of the North", an organization of Afghan resistance created by Commander Massood.


      8) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is the leader of Hezb-e-Islami, a violently anti-Western party. However, it was he who gained American support during the war.


      9) Hekmatyar proposed political refuge to Omar Abdul Rahman, mastermind of the World Trade Center attack in New York (six people killed and a thousand injured on 16 February, 1993)


      10) These two attacks on August 7, 1998 made 252 dead (including 12 Americans) and more than 5,000 wounded.


      11) It is believed Mullah Omar married one of the daughters of Usama Bin Laden.


      12) According to sources close to Commander Massood, it was done at the American request. It is said the Taleban accused the Saudi secret services chief of being "a pro-American prostitute".


      13) Here Commander Massood makes an allusion to the massacre of the Hazaras, a Shiite ethnicity, while the Taleban are Sunnites. According to Massood, about 6, 000 people were assassinated in the city of Mazar. According to the leader of Hezb-e-wahdat, the Shiite Hazara Mohaqiq, the Taleban have killed more than 20, 000 people over the region.


      14) A region with an important Muslin presence.


      15) Religious legalization of poppy is much more important than a simple civil legalization could be.
      I just read this whole letter and am amazed, some of it I already knew about. I also know a little more, but: WTF why can not this shit be STOPPED? I just don`t understand ...... Surrender? ABSOLUTELY NEVER!

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      • #4
        The poor kittens!!

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        Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
          [ATTACH]17297[/ATTACH]
          Have I missed something? I know the guy musaad or whatever is dead, but is what he had to say ALL BS or what?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
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            OR perhaps- I don`t have a clue what I`m talking about and should just shut TFU about the subject? .....

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            • #7
              Originally posted by silvertogn View Post
              Have I missed something? I know the guy musaad or whatever is dead, but is what he had to say ALL BS or what?

              Nothing to do with Masoud or you opinion. Lots to do with what happens here when pople necropost (revive long dead threads). hang around some & all will become clear.
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              Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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              • #8
                Good God man, almost five years ago....
                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by troung View Post
                  Good God man, almost five years ago....
                  he went bye byes.
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                  Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                    he went bye byes.
                    After about his second necropost I decided to spare the kittens.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                      After about his second necropost I decided to spare the kittens.

                      You are indeed a merciful god. ;)
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                      Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by troung View Post
                        Good God man, almost five years ago....
                        Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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