Posted on 11/06/2001 5:31:36 AM PST by jedi150
Taliban were not a part of anti-Soviet resistance
It is a cliche{AAC}, but the first casualty in the war on terrorism
has once again been truth. All sorts of myths have sprung up and
they will continue to proliferate until the very last bomb is dropped
_ and well beyond.
ALAN DAWSON
Along with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride their close companions
Hokum and Bunkum. Misinformation and disinformation sometimes grow into
legends and lore.
Some rumours around the war on terrorism are easy to disprove, and are only fleeting
distractions. Others attain heroic status and serve as the rotten foundations of even
more audacious untruths.
Here are 11 of the most common, early myths around the latest world conflict:
Myth: The Taliban fought the Russians and then won the peace.
Both Afghanistan and Islamic experts have almost despaired of trying to bury this
hoary and enduring anachronism. About two weeks ago, a letter writer on these
pages debunked it. Four days later, the Soul-Searching column in Perspective
contained this: ``The Taliban may have beaten the Russians in 1979 but then made a
mess of their society.''
The Taliban did not beat the Russians because they did not fight the Russians. They
could not fight the Russians because there were no Taliban in the 1979-1986 war
against invading Soviet troops.
The Taliban formed their army after the Russian defeat. Their political appeal to
Afghans was to end the corruption and civil wars among the factions which did
fight, and defeat, the Russians.
The Taliban killed thousands of fellow Afghans, by themselves and at the side of
foreigners from a dozen countries. They also made a mess of their society.
As far as is known, they have never killed a single foreign invader.
Myth: The CIA created Osama bin Laden as the head of a terrorist network to fight
the Russians.
This Noam Chomskyite nonsense is popular among leftists and other muddleheads
of the West who manipulate cause and effect like a Monday morning quarterback
proclaiming how he would have won the game. Strange that they never rant about
how support for Poland's Solidarity has ``blown back'' on the United States, or
support for the anti-Sandinista contras or a hundred other groups and nations.
First of all, bin Laden was not the head of anything during the anti-Soviet war in
Afghanistan. He came to the battle for his own reasons _ just as did many other
committed Muslims and nations, including America.
There is no evidence the Americans formed any group, let alone a network. But it is
certain that bin Laden was not the head of any such group, ever, until he formed his
own al-Qaeda, outside Afghanistan, after the war.
During the anti-Soviet war, bin Laden and Americans did much the same thing: they
donated money which bought weapons. If the Americans formed groups, where are
they today?
Myth: The Taliban allow bin Laden to remain in hiding in Afghanistan because the
Muslim religion demands that every guest receive hospitality and protection.
The fact is that Islam forbids providing shelter to anyone fleeing justice, just like all
civilised beliefs and laws.
The Taliban provide shelter to bin Laden and his followers mostly because he is the
son-in-law of Mullah Mohammad Omar Akhund, the Taliban dictator. Mullah Omar
has addressed this question with fellow Taliban in recent months, because many _
probably most _ members of the movement are uneasy and resent the growing
colonialism of bin Laden and the Arabs in many Afghanistan regions.
Mullah Omar told a Taliban council last July, supposedly, that he was prepared to
stand or fall on the issue, and would accept a Taliban split before he would expel his
son in law.
Myth: The Taliban offered to extradite or expel bin Laden but the Americans and
others refused to negotiate.
Osama bin Laden has always been free to leave Afghanistan (or Sudan before that).
The Taliban have consistently said _ and say _ they will extradite bin Laden if they
receive evidence he is involved in any violence. They do not consider the existing
evidence to be enough. They would not consider any evidence to be enough, even if
live TV pictures on the Al-Jazeera network showed bin Laden hijacking a plane to
flatten the rubble of the Bamiyan statues.
The United Nations asked and then ordered the Taliban to expel or to hand over bin
Laden. They refused. Clearly, if anyone wants bin Laden, they must go to get him.
Myth: Osama bin Laden is an Islamic cleric and the faithful must consider his
religious fatwa.
Bin Laden is a self-described follower of Islam with no formal training. He has no
authority to issue fatwa, or holy decrees.
We know this because bin Laden's father-in-law, the strange Taliban dictator Mullah
Mohammad Omar Akhund, has said so. He told the US journalist Arnaud de
Borchgrave earlier this year that the bin Laden order to attack Americans was
illegimate.
The ``bin Laden fatwa'' is touted by some people who believe what they want to
believe. Most Muslim authorities believe that claiming such powers and issuing such
false decrees is an offence against the religion.
Myth: Ramadan is a traditional month of prayer and peace, and a cease-fire is
imperative.
Ramadan is a month of extra religious obligation, to fast from dawn to dusk. Muslims
also have other days of fast, which has the purpose of emphasising the commitment
of followers, identical to other major religions.
Every Muslim school child knows that war during Ramadan has occurred since the
Year 2, on the Muslim calendar. The prophet Mohammad led 313 followers in the
glorious battle of Badr on Ramadan 17. They defeated thousands of armed infidels
outside the city of Medina. There is not enough space to list other Ramadan battles.
Every Muslim school child also knows that the holy Koran mentions the word
``Ramadan'' once, in ordering the annual fast.
Myth: Osama bin Laden became a militant (or extremist, if you prefer) because of the
Israeli treatment of Palestinians, and because ``the great Satan, America'' supposedly
directs all actions of Israel.
Bin Laden, like many Arab neighbours, has given neither aid nor comfort to the
Palestinians.
Bin Laden's attention to the Palestinian cause is almost exclusively as a tool of
justification against the Americans. If the Americans have favoured peace in the
Middle East, bin Laden has called for struggle _ against Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, for example.
It is not possible to settle the Middle East crisis in a manner suitable to bin Laden
and his ilk. They oppose any settlement short of wiping out Israel, preferably by
violence and huge numbers of deaths.
If peace breaks out in the Middle East tomorrow, and all Palestinians are delighted
with the settlement, bin Laden would oppose both that peace and Israeli survival.
Myth: A Middle East peace now would play right into bin Laden's hands.
It is in the interest of almost everyone _ everyone who is civilised, for certain _ to
work for and perhaps even to impose a peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
When peace occurs, a lot of support for terrorism will die off. A Palestinian homeland
would thrill many of today's terrorists and would-be terrorists.
Al-Qaeda, bin Laden and others would oppose the negotiations, the settlement, the
imposition and the enforcement of peace. So would their natural allies such as
Hizbollah and, probably, Iran and Iraq.
These people and groups would also oppose the continuing, low-level war in the
Middle East.
Myth: We must continue to do everything the way we did before Sept 11, otherwise
``they'' will have won.
Citizens must remain vigilant against government efforts to infringe on civil liberties,
in wartime or not. But clearly, the world changed on Sept 11.
The idea that responding prudently to perceived threats provides victory to the likes
of bin Laden is crazy.
If this myth were true, we would have already heard this on the Al Jazeera network:
``We have won. The infidels have added another hour per person to airplane
boarding and mail sorters are wearing masks and troops are guarding bridges and ID
cards are harder to obtain and the United States may stop taking foreign students.
Therefore, we are declaring victory, and an end to all attacks. Osama bin Laden will
return to Riyadh tomorrow.''
Myth: The US government is exploiting a ``war fever'' and it is vital to oppose this
kind of ``herd mentality''.
Compared with former efforts and ``wars'', the war on terrorism is one of the most
calm, composed and careful.
No war has ever been declared with less vilification, with every civilised nation and
international organisation bending over backwards to identify not only the enemy
but who is not the enemy.
No war in recent memory has started with less action and rhetoric _ a month passed
before a single shot was fired.
Myth: We're not involved.
The truth is that the most unwilling, peaceful, anti-American nation is deeply
involved. People from 80 nations died in the New York atrocities, and al-Qaeda
supporters have bombed, burned and butchered in every region of the world, and
some of them live among us.
The world economy is falling. The tourists are not coming this year for a variety of
Sept 11 reasons that have nothing to do with the safety of Thailand.
The war may be won by a non-violent act by a non-combatant _ cutting off the
money of a gang, double-checking the passport of a hotel guest.
Again, it happened on Clinton's watch.
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