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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| "US gets cosy with Fazl" | |
| 2004-06-19 | |
| Include a hefty dose of salt, Asia Times has been claiming this for years now. In the search for a single unifying force in chaotic Afghanistan, such as "moderate" Taliban, to bring political stability before November’s US presidential elections, focus has once again fallen on the firebrand Pakistani cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who during the Taliban regime was used to build bridges with the rest of the world. In a controversial move, Rehman in late May was chosen by the Speaker as official opposition leader. But while these parties were crying foul because their candidate had not been chosen, a broader significance of Rehman’s nomination emerged: he was selected soon after returning from a little-publicized and unscheduled visit to England. Earlier, in March, in Pakistan, Rehman had met with visiting British Foreign Minister Jack Straw. The significance of these events emerged in comments Rehman made to a local journalist. "The British authorities are working on behalf of the United States. This indirect process has been chosen to avoid any ill-effects ahead of the forthcoming presidential elections in America ... Britain is holding indirect talks with the Taliban militia to seek an honorable American exit from Afghanistan." By implication, Rehman will mediate in this process. Asia Times Online spoke to Rehman on Wednesday evening, when the cleric called from his National Assembly chambers. Asia Times Online: Moves have been afoot for about a year to carve out "good Taliban" without leader Mullah Omar. Are you working on the same lines? Fazlur Rehman: After the Taliban fell [in late 2001] and a United Nations resolution called them terrorists, we conveyed the message to all Western powers that this was not the solution to the [country’s] problems, and would result in instability in Afghanistan. Now the Taliban are underground ... the whole country is in deep chaos and without leadership. This is the threat we always pointed to in the past. Whenever there was a chance to interact with any Western country officials, we conveyed the same message [engage the Taliban]. ATol: Did you think your message got across? Rehman: Yes, of course. There is a visible change in behavior. They know that elections are the real pulse which reflects public opinion, and if the masses cease to participate in the process of elections, whether because they do not believe in the present election process or because of any other reason - like law and order - what credibility will the US leave behind? Mr Jack Straw came to Pakistan this year and I spoke to him about the same thing, saying, ’Please, do not abandon the Taliban as they are the real binding force in Afghanistan,’ and Mr Straw agreed with me that the dialogue process should not be closed with any party in Afghanistan. ATol: When you recently visited Britain, did you talk on this issue, and at what level? Rehman: I had the chance to interact with Mr Mike O’Brien, British minister for trade and investment. At the same time, I was invited to different institutions which work under the British Foreign Office. I clearly told them all to remove their mental hangups concerning the Taliban. ATol: Do you see any positive response? Rehman: Yes. The situation is not like yesteryear, when Western powers were not ready to listen to the name "Taliban". Certainly now they are preparing their minds for many compromises. Interestingly, before the emergence of the Taliban, Rehman never supported the Afghan resistance movement against the Soviets in the 1980s. Instead, he called it a proxy US war - in one sense he was right, the mujahideen were actively supported and supplied by the United States to counter the Soviets. Whether or not Rehman can succeed in his task remains a moot point. There are many within Afghanistan who believe that the Taliban, with their strict religious philosophies, are the only people capable of bringing order to the country. However, all previous US efforts to cultivate "good Taliban" have ended in frustration, mostly because of the US demand that Mullah Omar be excluded.
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| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #6 Snif! You hated me yesterday. |
| Posted by: Junifer 2004-06-19 7:34:51 PM |
| #5 oh, for the golden age of trollery! I, too, miss those heady days of yore, the Great Serbian Lop-Eared Troll Infestation of 2004, otherwise known as "Rantburg's Finest Hour." |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-06-19 12:00:37 PM |
| #4 Who let the dog out? Who? Who? Hey, dogbite, your mommy's calling; better run back home. Wotta maroon. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-19 11:32:04 AM |
| #3 oh, for the golden age of trollery! Now we are subject to the lesser capabilities of DBT, Antiwar and Nony... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-19 9:50:35 AM |
| #2 Remember when idiots like DBT were too ashamed to show their faces in public? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-06-19 9:33:17 AM |
| #1 Remember when Bush publicly gave Taliban/al-Qaeda one "last chance" to deliver bin Laden, pending war? Remember when Bush-Powell pressured the Northern Alliance to refrain from liberating Kabul? Remember when Bush-Powell imposed sham armistice arrangements between Afghan liberators and Taliban remnants? Mike Sylvester choses to forget the above, because he believes that Bush-Powell are American geniuses, who can do no wrong. Every effort that Bush-Powell have made to incorporate jihadis into sham democratic processes have backfired. Unless those whimps implement a policy where the enemy is killed in large numbers, they can watch John Kerry glide into the White House. Check Index sections on "(Prince) Bandar" in Powell's "My American Way" and reassess your admiration for that reckless fraud who whimped his wretched way into the State Department. Powell can go to hell. |
| Posted by: Dog Bites Trolls 2004-06-19 8:44:21 AM |