Ariddia
24-10-2008, 09:52
I've successfully been resisting the impulse to start new threads... for the most part... but this is particularly interesting. It seems that jihadists and their armchair supporters are getting into something of a panic at the idea that the Taleban might make peace with (and enter) the Afghan government, and that this might lock al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan.
It's all very much hypotheticals at this point, but it does raise rather interesting questions.
There is a growing fear among some hardline supporters of al-Qaeda that talk of an eventual peace deal between the Taleban and the Afghan government could lead one day to al-Qaeda losing its foothold in the region.
The Taleban's official spokesman Zahidullah Mujahid has denied reports of peace negotiations.
But Saudi officials say a meeting between representatives of the two sides did take place in Saudi Arabia this month, although there is no indication that any actual negotiations were conducted.
In the shadowy world of extremist internet forums, even talks about talks are enough to provoke alarm in some quarters.
Are the Taleban preparing to sell out their old allies, al-Qaeda, as the price for getting back into government?
Absolutely not, says the Taleban's official spokesman, but supporters of violent jihad on the internet are clearly rattled.
They see internal division, known as "fitna" in Arabic, as the greatest threat to the global jihadi project to drive western forces out of the wider Middle East and establish an Islamic state.
(more here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7687539.stm))
It looks like a no-win situation for the Afghans, really. Either the Taleban gain a foothold in government, and Afghans can say goodbye to the prospect of a progressive society (not that the present "liberated" Afghanistan is very progressive, if you can be sentenced to death for reading about women's rights on the Internet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7682449.stm); yay freedom!), or no peace deal eventuates, and al-Qaeda remains in Afghanistan, courtesy of its still-strong Taleban allies. Also bear in mind that the UK's most senior commander in Afghanistan believes that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won outright (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7653367.stm), and that it's a matter, not of winning, but of reducing the insurgency to a "manageable level". I.e., there's no hope of eliminating the Taleban.
Thoughts?
It's all very much hypotheticals at this point, but it does raise rather interesting questions.
There is a growing fear among some hardline supporters of al-Qaeda that talk of an eventual peace deal between the Taleban and the Afghan government could lead one day to al-Qaeda losing its foothold in the region.
The Taleban's official spokesman Zahidullah Mujahid has denied reports of peace negotiations.
But Saudi officials say a meeting between representatives of the two sides did take place in Saudi Arabia this month, although there is no indication that any actual negotiations were conducted.
In the shadowy world of extremist internet forums, even talks about talks are enough to provoke alarm in some quarters.
Are the Taleban preparing to sell out their old allies, al-Qaeda, as the price for getting back into government?
Absolutely not, says the Taleban's official spokesman, but supporters of violent jihad on the internet are clearly rattled.
They see internal division, known as "fitna" in Arabic, as the greatest threat to the global jihadi project to drive western forces out of the wider Middle East and establish an Islamic state.
(more here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7687539.stm))
It looks like a no-win situation for the Afghans, really. Either the Taleban gain a foothold in government, and Afghans can say goodbye to the prospect of a progressive society (not that the present "liberated" Afghanistan is very progressive, if you can be sentenced to death for reading about women's rights on the Internet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7682449.stm); yay freedom!), or no peace deal eventuates, and al-Qaeda remains in Afghanistan, courtesy of its still-strong Taleban allies. Also bear in mind that the UK's most senior commander in Afghanistan believes that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won outright (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7653367.stm), and that it's a matter, not of winning, but of reducing the insurgency to a "manageable level". I.e., there's no hope of eliminating the Taleban.
Thoughts?