Posted on 09/19/2001 11:20:14 PM PDT by kattracks
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:47:07 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Northern Alliance, the remnants of the Soviet-era mujahideen militia still fighting Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, is offering the United States 30,000 battle-hardened warriors to help locate the man blamed for last week's terrorist attacks.
"The international community has no chance of hunting down Osama bin Laden without us," said Haron Amin, the alliance representative in Washington.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
If yes, that may be the key.
They did the last I heard. But any deals should be made with local commanders on a case-by-case basis. There are some really unsavory characters on this side too.
Massoud's "cover story" for how he got his revenues was that he was taking emeralds out of Afghanistan and selling them in Russia. That's totally absurd. What's the world market for emeralds, anyway? And in Russia, of all places. His people were and still are smuggling heroin through the Central Asian Republics.
As for the claim the NA has "infiltrated" the Taliban, highly unlikely. You'd think with such knowledge, Russia's backing, and a "charismatic military genius" they would control more than the northernmost pocket of the country.
The last time the US took sides in a tribal war was when it pursued the Aidid clan in Mogadishu. We must make sure that we are acting in our own interests, and not needlessly polarizing the population along tribal lines. If the NA has popular support in some areas, fine. If they don't, then some other local system will have to be worked out.
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