[No Truce With Kings]

"Is there any confirmation of this? I have seen no announcement from the military. Nor has it been picked up by the major media except for the one Deutsche Presse article."

Here is Roggio's latest take on it:

Updated: The Khaleej Times is reporting a commander of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami, along with “six associates” were captured “at a compound near Hafezan in eastern Nangarhar province.” The initial report of Hekmatyar's capture may be premature, however American intelligence sources are tight lipped on the subject at the moment.

My feeling?

They may have him, but don't want word to get out until they finish rolling up his network. Roggio is generally a very reliable source.

[Dog]

Update from Roggio who is on the Hugh Hewitt show as I type...they are running DNA testing on they guy captured...

[lentulusgracchus]

Gulbuddin, in a story I once read, is one of the worst of the Afghan warlords, doesn't matter whose side he is on. He was portrayed in one description of him that I read four or five years ago as a real Cadmus-soldier type, loves to kill people, esp. inventively and cruelly. His opportunism in switching sides is a longstanding Afghan characteristic going back to the time of Alexander -- Alexander had to marry Roxana partly to tie down one of the Afghan factions that he knew would really hurt him, the minute he left Bactria. The ploy worked, and Bactria stayed Greek for >200 years.

Maybe Condi Rice ought to marry General Dostum and take the veil.

Or not.

Point is, Gulbuddin needs to be handled intelligently -- not to suck up to him, but to handle his followers. Rendering him to Camp X-Ray would be one obvious option, but maybe the coalition needs to put on a show of peacemaking and get Gulbuddin to sign off on things and show compromise, before whisking him away for an extended Caribbean vacation at the Sheraton Gitmo.