Hacking the Taliban (or its allies) was bound to be temporary. Ever the tasteful sort, the Taliban used the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks to escalate its information war against the U.S.-led coalition. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's "Voice of Jihad" media company has a few messages for you, American infidel, about the war you've been fighting for nine years. What, no viral video?
Some of those messages are run-of-the-mill propaganda: the U.S. campaign is doomed; Taliban victory is inevitable; yawwwn. But other aspects of the Taliban statement reflect a shrewd understanding of domestic American anxieties about the war. For instance:
__1. Hey, American taxpayer! How's this war working out for you? __For a band of murderers who "cower in caves," as President Obama said at the Pentagon on Saturday, the Taliban is acutely aware of the weak U.S. economy. Think of what nine years of war in Afghanistan has given the U.S., the Taliban writes: "heavy financial losses amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars." It hasn't brought the U.S. any security, but rather "political and economic instability" -- not just in Afghanistan and its neighbors, "but in America itself." What, no "it's the economy, stupid"?
2. You want another 9/11? The Taliban doesn't exactly reference the recent uptick in domestic terrorism attempts from Najibullah Zazi, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Faisal Shahzad. (Maybe because none of them were linked to the Afghan Taliban and none of their efforts succeeded.) But it's comfortable predicting blowback at home from a war halfway around the world. "[I]n every part of the globe, the citizenship of USA has become a mark of danger," the statement reads. "The people of America have been deprived of a peaceful and secure life. Their houses, cities, offices, airports and barracks have become battle fields. They are not able to find any solace and peace any where." And yet the only post-9/11 incident that could qualify as a domestic terrorist attack came fromArmy Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly killed 13 people -- not 3000 -- last November at Fort Hood.
__3. Leave Afghanistan and we'll pretend this never happened. __ The latest CNN poll found 57 percent of the public now opposes the Afghanistan war. To the extent Taliban speak to their policy preferences, its statement says the U.S. has "only once chance now" to redeem itself: withdraw "unconditionally." So much for reconciling with the Karzai government: the "illegitimate" nature of the war means the U.S. isn't "entitled to submitting (certain) conditions as a quid pro quo for withdrawal." To the "American rulers," the Taliban graciously advise: "take advantage of this chance; lose not further chances and unconditionally withdraw forces from Afghanistan. Thus they may save themselves from the fate of the former Britain and Soviet Union and put an end to the knotty Afghan issue."
4. We're going to fight until we have an "Islamic" Afghanistan again. Underscoring the insurgent leadership's disinterest in reconciliation, the Taliban write that while it'll fight on until "the invaders are no more in Afghanistan," it will continue the battle until "an Islamic sovereignty is established there." The Taliban couches its particular preferences -- to establish "establish a strong and independent Islamic system" -- as "the legitimate right of the Afghans to determine the future destiny of Afghanistan." (And yet a January poll from ABC and the BBC found that the Taliban commands only 10 percent support from those same Afghans.) The implicit message: does the U.S. really have the will or the capabilities to stand in the way of that?
5. No need to dredge up bad news. It's worth pointing out some glaring omissions from the statement. For all the prediction of further domestic U.S. terror attacks, the Taliban don't actually pledge to pull one off. Nor do the insurgent leaders mention anything about al-Qaeda -- no statements of support, affiliation; even familiarity. Nothing about drones or Pakistan. Not a word about (aborted) Florida Koran-burnings or protests over Islamic centers near Ground Zero. What Kandahar security operation? Oh, and perhaps least surprising: the Taliban has nothing to say aboutits increasing responsibility for Afghan civilian casualties.
Photo: 'Voice of Jihad'
See Also:
