Nobody's seen Mullah Omar lately, but the Taliban and their supporters have a new icon. Saifur Rahman Mansoor, the youthful commander of the Shahikot fortress, has emerged as something of a celebrity among anti-American elements in Afghanistan since his men downed a US helicopter and killed seven American soldiers Monday. Taliban supporters throughout the region are lionizing him as its hero. A statement attributed to Mansoor says he will prefer to die fighting rather than living a "shameful" life under "U.S. occupation." It's not even clear whether he made the statement, but there appears to be a substantial Taliban and al-Qaeda propaganda operation in eastern Afghanistan looking to stir up hostility to the U.S. and its allies. And that propaganda machinery is spinning Mansoor as a new Afghan icon. The Taliban and al-Qaeda elements that have regrouped in eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan want to use the casualties inflicted on the U.S. at Shahi Kot to embolden anti-American forces throughout the region.
I think a more accurate translation of what he actually said was, "Holy crap! Look at all the tanks!" As long as all the "rising young stars" on the Bad Guys' side manage to lose all their battles, we don't have to worry. But we do have to make sure they lose. |