Posted on 10/24/2001 2:25:45 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The sole foreign envoy of the isolated hardline Taliban vowed on Wednesday that the movement would not hand over Osama bin Laden, even at the cost of every life in Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef said Afghanistan was ready to attack the United States -- if only it had the resources -- and vowed to kill Americans in revenge for their killing of Afghans.
"We are not going to hand over Osama bin Laden to them," he told Reuters in an interview.
"If they were to kill all of the nation of Afghanistan, we will not hand over Osama bin Laden because we have law, we have respect for the honour of Afghanistan, we have the culture of Afghanistan and this is against the culture of Afghanistan."
He did not rule out the possibility of negotiation to solve the crisis, but insisted that Afghanistan was ready to fight to the last drop of its blood in defence of honour.
The concept of honour is an ancient one among Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtuns, who live by a code called Pakhtunwali under which a family -- or a tribe -- can be damned for generations for an act that brings dishonour.
"We hope for our honour, and they should respect our honour and we are fighting for that, we are defending that," Zaeef said.
He was speaking on the 18th day of U.S. strikes on Afghanistan to punish the fundamentalist Taliban militia for providing a haven to the man suspected of masterminding the September 11 suicide plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and sliced into the Pentagon.
The 34-year-old ambassador, who has become known worldwide for the almost daily news conferences that he conducts on the porch of his embassy, clad in white robes and a black turban wound around his head, showed little sign that he had been unnerved by the attacks.
LAUGHTER AND DEFIANCE
His remarks peppered by the bursts of laughter that have become a trademark of his public statements, Zaeef was firm and fiery about the determination of his movement that runs one of the most impoverished countries on earth to resist the might of the world's most modern army.
"If we are able to attack on America we should do that, but at the moment we don't know what we will do," he said.
"If we are able to kill the Americans, we want to do that. There is no question, no question, because they are killing us," he fumed.
"We must kill them, we must encourage the people to kill the American soldiers," he said.
"We don't want to, it is not our desire to kill American civilians...unfortunately the American people encourage their soldiers to kill the civilians of Afghanistan, this is their responsibility."
Zaeef predicted a protracted war that would damage all involved.
"I think this is not in favour of the Americans, nor in favour of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (Taliban). This is damage for both sides," he said.
Zaeef held out little hope of finding a solution with the Taliban refusing to hand over bin Laden, and U.S. President George W. Bush saying the surrender of the Saudi-born millionaire militant was a non-negotiable aspect of his declared global war on terrorism.
"They have killed more than 1,000 people of Afghanistan and they have the responsibility on their shoulders for this," Zaeef said.
He dismissed U.S. reports that an air raid on the western city of Herat had mistakenly hit a home for the elderly, repeating that the stray bomb had destroyed a hospital and a nearby mosque.
NO OLD PEOPLE'S HOMES
"Afghans are different. In Afghanistan, if a father becomes old, then he keeps praying and fasting and he is kept at home and his children serve him. The Americans say it was an old people's home. This is not the Afghan habit," he said.
"They are telling lies and in Afghanistan there is no separate place for old people. Everyone keeps his mother and father at home," he said.
Washington has disputed a Taliban report that U.S. bombing had killed more than 100 people in a Herat hospital.
The United Nations said a military hospital had been destroyed in the western city of Herat on Monday, although it was unable to give casualty figures.
"This is a very, very hard and complicated issue," Zaeef said.
"I think there is no way to find a solution. This will continue for some time and this will be the cause and reason for the breaking of America, Inshallah (God Willing)," he said.
Zaeef pulled out the Taliban's oft-repeated criticisms of the U.S. approach to the crisis.
"America is cruel and they are using their power and arrogance against weak and poor people and I think this is not the way," he said.
He warned the United States that its persistent strikes would only harden the resolve of the Afghans -- known for centuries for their warlike defence of their land -- and breed yet more hatred.
"Hate is increasing," he said. "This is not a very good thing for them... And also for the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan this is damaging because we are losing the economy, we are losing the people, we are losing other things and this is no benefit for any side.
"Only this is increasing enmity between the two nations. I think this is very bad," he said.
I wonder how the bulk of the population of Afghanistan feels about being offered up as cannon fodder by Zaeef...
Memo to Mullah Zaeef: Your country already did attack the United States and killed American citizens: On September 11th.
For this, you're going to pay.
These guys should run for a democratic seat; they don't care about anyone but themselves.
Oh, well. I don't care about them either. As long as they're not drawing breath anymore.
Why would he be unnerved? He's leading a relatively luxurious and safe life in Pakistan.
Salami Zaeef needs to loosen that black rag a bit. There is no honor in protecting a mass murderer. They are not fighting for their [nonexistant] honor, they are fighting for their lives. In the end, they will have neither.
Okay.
[snip] "... we will not hand over Osama bin Laden because we have law, we have respect for the honour of Afghanistan, we have the culture of Afghanistan and this is against the culture of Afghanistan."
So... Let me get this straight -- it's an inexcusable breach of Islamic etiquette to turn over one mass murderer, but it's okay to sacrifice the lives of everyone in the country?
Because, as I'm sure has been explained to you several dozen times by now, revealing the evidence would entail making public the communications between bin Laden and his people which we have intercepted.
And that very act would tell bin Laden, *and* every other enemy we have in the world, *exactly* what kinds of communications we can intercept (and by omission, which ones we can't).
Similarly, if any of the evidence came from our spies within the al Qaeda network, the pieces of information released would make it pretty obvious to bin Laden precisely who the rat(s) must be, which would endanger their lives.
How many more times does that need to be explained to you before it sinks in?
Are the taliban ready for eternal damnation and dishonor?
#12 is exactly right. Additionally, from what I understand, most of the black boxes were obliterated, only the Pennsylvania voice recorder was found, and they did release information that there were screams and the sounds of people fighting in the cockpit.
No, on September 10 I probably couldn't have found Afghanistan on a map. But now I sure can. And like most Americans, I've learned quite a bit in the past month and a half. And because of that, all I have to say now is:
Let's Roll!
As for proof, the proof was shown to leaders around the world who all agreed it was convincing and extensive. Are they part of the Great Conspiracy too?
Pissant's will remain pissant's no matter the evidence, that's the way of the world.
The boxes from the World Trade Center have not been recovered.
They don't need to turn over bin Laden. We're coming to get you.
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