Taliban Image Management: Lie To The Gullible Western World
Via Yogita Limaye of the BBC, the Taliban "have sought to portray a more moderate image than when they last seized power in 1996." It's, of course, total bullshit:
They have repeatedly said they will grant amnesty to all, including those who worked for western militaries or the Afghan government or police. In a dramatic press conference after the group swept into Kabul, chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made a declaration of forgiveness.But there is growing evidence that the reality on ground is different to the rhetoric coming from Taliban leaders and spokesmen. It was not lost on some watching the press conference in Kabul that Mr Mujahid made his declaration from the seat of the former government spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal, who had been killed by the group just weeks earlier, as "punishment for his deeds".
Now sources inside Afghanistan, as well as some who recently fled, have told the BBC that Taliban fighters are searching for, and allegedly killing, people they pledged they would leave in peace.
...Those who managed to flee say they fear for their colleagues back home. Zala Zazai, a former Afghan policewoman, one of thousands trained since the Taliban was deposed in 2001, said she was still in touch with other former policewomen.
"The Taliban call them from their office phones and ask them to come to work, and ask for their home address," she said.
Ms Zazai said that even in Tajikistan she was not totally out of the reach of the Taliban. Her mother, who is with her, received messages urging both women to return to Afghanistan and "live in the Islamic way", she said.
...A high-ranking Afghan police official, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, told the BBC from hiding that he'd heard the Taliban were searching for him.
"They caught my assistant and interrogated him for five hours," the official said. "They treated him very badly. They asked him, 'Where is your chief?' If they are forgiving everyone then why are they hunting for me?"
He said he was changing location every day with his wife and children. "I have no money to cross the border," he said, breaking down as he spoke. "The problem is the Taliban have no justice system. They have no courts, no jail. They are just killing."
It is not just people who worked in the security forces who say they are being targeted. Members of the civil administration, and those who worked in jobs disapproved by the Taliban told similar stories.
"The Taliban took my car, beat up my guards and took their weapons," said Zarifa Ghafari, who was Afghanistan's first female mayor, governing Maidan Shar, the capital of Wardak province.
"They were searching for me. They called all the people who used to be in contact with me asking where I was. They even went to my husband's parents' house to look for me," she said.
Ms Ghafari was speaking via a video call from Germany, where she fled after the Taliban took power.
"They made me do something I never wanted to do," she said. "They made me leave a country that I love."
I never ever thought in my wildest dreams that I'd find myself saying this, but as an American I'm a proud Texan.
roadgeek at September 1, 2021 10:41 PM
Wondering
• what you thought would happen, at any part of this engagement
• if you thought your vote would have your intended effect
• if you think it is really your (our) business what another country is doing, given such things as active slavery in many countries
• what you think should be done now that this Administration - a continuation of the corruption on display during Obama's tenure - has abandoned those people.
They're done. We're not going back.
Radwaste at September 2, 2021 5:32 AM
Yes the Taliban are lying. But they aren't even trying to make it believable. This is on the level of 'Are you shoe laces untied?' More of a white lie than anything else.
Ben at September 2, 2021 6:36 AM
Nothing new. The Palestinians have been doing this for decades: speak soothing things in English, speak their truth in Arabic.
I R A Darth Aggie at September 2, 2021 8:57 AM
Mohammed gave his followers three instances in which deceit was permitted: in times of war, between husband and wife, and in trying to reconcile divergent parties. An additional hadith permits lying about renouncing one's faith if necessary to save one's life.
The Tolly-bahn agreed to "respect the rights of women." By whose standards? The Tolly-bahn will respect the rights of women under Sharia.
The "rights of women" under Sharia are considerably more restrained than what the west might consider the "rights of women," and the Tolly-bahn will honor those.
We may consider this deceit, but the Tolly-bahn didn't lie. The Biden Administration needed a quick out, so they assumed and didn't ask the questions.
Conan the Grammarian at September 2, 2021 9:38 AM
The Taliban is in control, they're going to brutal. The US and other foreign powers will have to decide whether to overlook it like they do for other brutal regimes, in order to do business. If it's worth it, everyone will overlook it, if it isn't we won't.
NicoleK at September 2, 2021 11:19 AM
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