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.
What moles? This is the first I've heard of us having any moles in bin Ladin network.
THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FOUND. There are pictures of "black boxes" posted everywhere at the site to enable the workers to identify them, no matter what state of damage the boxes may be in. We're talking about a lot of people down there. Press, too. It would be VERY BIG NEWS if they were found, and nobody could keep it quiet.
But I have the feeling you think it was be an easy matter for the government to silence hundreds of civilians who would otherwise spread the news. Do they replace the Fire & Rescue folks with clones, or just use hypnosis and drugs?
If everyone is dead including the Taliban and Bin Ladan, is turning him over even important?
(sigh)
Okay, kid. dictionary.com has only ONE entry.
You are, of course, utterly wrong. Again. Still.
Question: these US moles in Bin Ladin's network have had 6 weeks since the tragedy to ACT, why are there no evidentiary breakthroughs?
There probably are. Only your tinfoil hat prevents you from realizing that there's a difference beween "there are no breakthroughs", and "they haven't stopped by Clint_E's house to keep him updated on their progress."
Why is the anthrax plague growing and no organization even identified.
The "anthrax plague" is not growing. All known cases are clearly traceable to the original mailings which all originated at about the same time, several weeks ago. There have not been any new attacks. I'd call that progress.
You're free to call it anything you like, including your usual rants of "lies, all lies!"
I always do.
I will do some research on this--but even if the impact is less, the fire was pretty intense, thousands of degrees, from what I understand. But I will try to learn more about it. No, I don't always trust what the authorities tell us--this anthrax bit is just an example.
In the midst of the outrage over the attack on our country, I can't help but be fascinated by the political rhetoric surrounding this conflict.
It almost appears that the Taliban officials are going for the old logic conundrum, "Everything I say is a lie, but I'm lying." This guy in the article, must either honestly believe what he says, or he's lying to the gathered press' faces, and couldn't care less if the western press believes him, while playing directly to the Islamic world's religious and nationalistic sense of persecution, that already dates to at least to the 7th century.
I had an idea at first where I was going with this, but I appear to have lost it now...Doggone salesmen....
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