Taliban's Unthinkable Atrocities

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Oct. 10, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

        Before President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom Oct. 7, 2001, only three short weeks after Sept. 11, the Taliban was busy demolishing ancient Buddhist temples and lopping of the limbs of “infidels” in the public square.  Long before the Taliban was driven by Bush from Kabul Nov. 12, 2001, they fought with Osama bin Laden for 10 years to liberate Afghanistan from the Soviet Union [1979-80].  Backed by the U.S., a diverse collection of indigenous Pashtun tribesmen and rag-tag Arab holy warriors led by Bin Laden called the mujahedeen eventually drove the Soviets out of Afghanistan Feb. 15, 1989.  Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter put his foot down canceling the U.S. participation in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  Thirty-One years later, the U.S. was at war with the same crowd that helped evict the Russians.

            Led by 52-year-old one-eyed Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban imposes Islamic fundamentalism known as Deobandi, more extreme than the Wahhabi sect that rules Saudi Arabia.  Practicing strict Pashtunwali customs originated in the Kandhar region of Southern Afghanistan, the Taliban follow strict Sharia law, customs that are a throwback to the Golden Age of Islam where women were part of the harem, serving men only in only servile roles.  When an Islamabad, Pakistan-based Taliban gunman shot 14-year-old female Malala Yousufzai in the head and neck Oct. 8 walking to her school bus in Swat Valley, it showed the fanatical brutality of the Taliban.  Yousaufzai earned a reputation for speaking out against the Taliban for shutting down coed secular schools.  She watched the Taliban in her Swat Valley neighborhood shut down her girls’ school and execute dissenters.

            Shooting a 14-year-old teenager in the face shows the ruthless nature of the Taliban.  Their twisted interpretation of Islam gives them license to engage in any atrocity to impose their brutal religious oppression.  While Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari’s government ceded the Swat Valley to the Taliban, they capitulated to criminal gangs armed to the teeth.  “My friend came to me and said, ‘for God’s sake, answer me honestly, is our school going to be attacked by the Taliban,’” Yousufzai, age 11, wrote in a blog published by the BBC.  Like other fascist regimes, the Taliban rules by intimidation and brute force.  “During this morning assembly we were told not to wear colorful clothes as the Taliban would object,” wrote Yousufzai, leaving herself a target to Taliban repression.  When a Taliban gunman arrived at her school Tuesday he asked for Malala by name then shot her the head.

            Zardari’s government has so much on its plate it can’t deal with the problems of Taliban gangs.  Fighting widespread unemployment and poverty, the government can barely keep the power and fresh water flowing let alone deal with the equivalent of Mexico’s drug cartel.  Funded by the opium trade, not petrodollars, the Taliban has deep pockets to continue its war of attrition in Afghanistan.  U.S. and NATO forces have faced relentless opposition from the Taliban well-developed guerilla war.  While a shell of the force that battled the Soviets for nine long years, the Taliban still boasts about 36,000 guerrillas fighting U.S. and NATO forces.  Blending into the civilian population and U.S.-backed government of 54-year-old Hamid Karzai, the Taliban’s difficult to root out.  Since President Barack Obama surged troops Dec. 2, 2009, the death toll has risen nearly 400%, with 2,134 U.S. deaths.

            Whatever the fate of Taliban, the U.S. and NATO can’t stop a nationalistic movement destined to takeover the country.  While Karazi remains the titular head of government, the Taliban actually rules the roost.  Denying any Taliban affiliation, Karzai, and members of his security staff share the same Pastun roots as the Kandahar-based Taliban.  Recent deaths by suicide bombing in Afghanistan are directly related to Taliban infiltration into U.S. and NATO forces.  U.S. and NATO Supreme Commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen has urged U.S. and NATO forces to avoid any collaboration with Karzai’s security forces.  “She was pro-West, she was speaking against the Taliban and she was calling President Obama her idol,” said Taliban spokesman Ebsanullah Ehsan, confirming that the Taliban murders anyone deemed an enemy for political, not religious reasons.

            Whether liked or not by the GOP, Obama has done his job as commander-in-chief, relentlessly pursuing terrorists wherever they hide.  While GOP presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney likes to rip Obama for a weak foreign policy, it’s been anything but.  His dogged pursuit of terrorists in Pakistan and other hiding place around the globe has made Barack al-Qaeda’s and the Taliban’s No. 1. enemy.  No matter how distasteful Americans find the Taliban, the U.S. can’t commit endless blood and treasure to reversing a national movement in Afghanistan.  While Romney talks tough about Syria and Iran, Obama knows the limitations of American power.  Eleven-long bloody years in Afghanistan has sobered the White House up about the costs and benefits of war.  Murdering or dismembering children is par for the course for the Taliban.

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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