Security

Taliban Propagandists Add Their $0.02 To Afghan Troops Debate

Who’s watching the debate over troop levels and strategy in Afghanistan? The Taliban, that’s who. On the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan (pictured here), the Taliban issued a statement on their website, shahamat.org, saying they pose no threat to the West. According to Reuters, the statement reads: “We had and have no […]

afghanistan-invasionWho's watching the debate over troop levels and strategy in Afghanistan? The Taliban, that's who.

On the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan (pictured here), the Taliban issued a statement on their website, shahamat.org, saying they pose no threat to the West. According to Reuters, the statement reads: "We had and have no plan of harming countries of the world, including those in Europe ... our goal is the independence of the country and the building of an Islamic state."

If U.S. and NATO forces want to stay in Afghanistan, the statement adds, "you should know that our patience will only increase and that we are ready for a long war."

To translate from Taliban-speak: Nothing but a little internal war here, please go home.

This latest statement comes as the Obama administration considers whether to send more troops to Afghanistan -- or scale back to a more limited counterterrorism campaign. It also comes as public support for the war wavers, both in Europe and the United States. Obama's national security team is meeting today to weigh Afghanistan options, and the president got an earful yesterday from members of Congress.

Over at The Cable, Josh Rogin got the debrief from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, who smacked down the non-story over the supposed rift between the White House and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

"There's no rift with McChrystal," Levin said. "[Obama] said he picked McChrystal and he wants McChrystal to be direct ... He reiterated that McChrystal is very supportive of the deliberative process and getting the strategy right before focusing on the troop levels or resources."

[PHOTO: Wikimedia]

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