Afghanistan Syndrome
It’s a long way from Stockholm.* Pretty much he other side of the world. NYT scribbler David Rohde, “inside the Emirate,” on what happened to him in extended Taliban captivity:
During our time as hostages, I tried to reason with our captors. I told them we were journalists who had come to hear the Taliban’s side of the story. I told them that I had recently married and that Tahir and Asad had nine young children between them. I wept, hoping it would create sympathy, and begged them to release us. All of my efforts proved pointless.
Over those months, I came to a simple realization. After seven years of reporting in the region, I did not fully understand how extreme many of the Taliban had become. Before the kidnapping, I viewed the organization as a form of “Al Qaeda lite,” a religiously motivated movement primarily focused on controlling Afghanistan.
Living side by side with the Haqqanis’ followers, I learned that the goal of the hard-line Taliban was far more ambitious. Contact with foreign militants in the tribal areas appeared to have deeply affected many young Taliban fighters. They wanted to create a fundamentalist Islamic emirate with Al Qaeda that spanned the Muslim world.
…
At all times, an ugly truth hovered over the three of us. Asad and Tahir would be the first ones to die. In post-9/11 Afghanistan and Pakistan, all lives are still not created equal.
As the months dragged on, I grew to detest our captors. I saw the Haqqanis as a criminal gang masquerading as a pious religious movement. They described themselves as the true followers of Islam but displayed an astounding capacity for dishonesty and greed.
Whole thing. I hope Obama, Emanuel, Axelrod, Biden, Reid, Levin, Pelosi, etal, are paying attention. You know, between Filkins and Rohde, I’m starting to warm up to the Times a little. At least until the next al-Qaeda early warning system alert goes up. What’s going on … when even the AP’s Kabul bureau seems to be starting to get it?
* Though maybe not as far from Stockholm, New York, your town as some people would like to think. Yes, we’re still having this conversation in 2009.
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Topics: Afghanistan, Obama, media
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:55 am Comments (4) on Sunday, October 18, 2009
4 Responses to “Afghanistan Syndrome”
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October 18th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
“What’s going on …”
Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath for too many leftists to get it. After all, we had the Soviets and Mao, but, of course, most leftists consider history to be nothing more than a sequence of flukes.
Nevertheless, in the age of The Obama, some hope would be politically correct … Be that as it may, though the “getting of it” is certainly welcome, I have not much forgiveness in my heart for the stupid f*cks who brought this madness to the shores of my country.
October 18th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden: I hope Obama, Emanuel, Axelrod, Biden, Reid, Levin, Pelosi, etal, are paying attention. You know, between Filkins and Rohde, I’m starting to warm up to the Times a little. At least until the next al-Qaeda early warning system alert goes up. What’s going on … when even the AP’s Kabul bureau seems to be starting to get it? [...]
October 18th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
For Obama, Emanuel, Axelrod, Biden, Reid, Levin, Pelosi, etal, to “get it”, they would have to compromise their political agenda. I don’t believe they will ever do that, unless we’re actually attacked again.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
He went halfway around the world to find out he wouldn’t want to join their gang? Candy ass.