Re: Mullah Omar acknowledged that his forces "may have made some mistakes," and was in control of only four or five Afghan provinces.
"But it is not important how many provinces we have under our control," he said. "Once we did not have a single province, and then the time came when we had all the provinces, which we have lost in a week."
He called the Taliban pullback from urban centers part of a larger strategy.
"The current situation in Afghanistan is related to a bigger cause - that is the destruction of America."
"If God's help is with us, this will happen within a short period of time - keep in mind this prediction," he said. "The real matter is the extinction of America, and God willing, it will fall to the ground."
Hey, don't take Omar's Swan Song at face value! As we put it in the West, it's "for domestic consumption" only... I mean, the guy is cornered somewhere in Khandahar and he has to show his troops that the fight ain't over yet --hence his pep radio-address!
As a matter of fact, the Pakistani are still calling the shots in Afghanistan... as far as Omar and his gang are concerned, I'm afraid Musharraf pocketed the $25 million bounty and kissed them good luck <g>
Think of my WWII/Poland analogy, Andy: the secret deal between Hitler and Stalin (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) provided for the carve-up of Poland between Germany and the USSR... Well, there you are: South/East Afghanistan falls (remains) into Pakistan's clutches whereas North/West Afghanistan is sold out to the Russkies.
Gus |
