Taliban under siege as fighting rages in north "one Taliban commander had defected"

AFP ^ | 25/09/2001 | AFP

[Pericles]

Taliban under siege as fighting rages in north (25/09/2001 )

ISLAMABAD, Sept 25 (AFP) - The Taliban's bid to cling to power in Afghanistan suffered a double setback as opposition forces gained ground in the north and former ally Saudi Arabia publicly washed its hands of the Islamic militia.

Emboldened by the massive buildup of US forces around the country, troops of the "Northern Alliance" opposition captured several villages in fierce overnight battles and claimed that at least one Taliban commander had defected.

©AFP

[Walkin Man]

Must be a different sect "Defectors for Allah".

Gee, I guess all muslim's aren't hot to meet up with their 70 virgins right away. heh heh

[SGCOS]

How does anybody know this is true?

[2ndMostConservativeBrdMember]

Interesting.................

[ninonitti]

That defecting Taliban Commander, debrief his sorry a@@ and shoot him.

Shoot him in elbows and knees first then debrief him.......speeds up interview process.

[Yankee]

Gee, I guess all muslim's aren't hot to meet up with their 70 virgins right away. heh heh

There's a damn good reason that they're virgins. They all look like Janet Reno.

[2ndMostConservativeBrdMember]

Click on the AFP link next to source: in the header.

[Pericles]

Not really Iraq has 2 groups within it that are anti Saddam, the Southern Shiites (linked with Iran) and the Kurdish movements linked with no one and everyone. The Turks come and play once and awhile but always do Iraq a favor by fighting the Kurds that the Iraqis would have fought anyway.

[Anonymous2]

yeah, if you believe any of these reports.

[Pericles]

AFP is a well respected news source.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Pretty stupid idea. That'll just encourage the rest of the Taliban to fight to the death.

Interesting commentary. When the Taliban kills prisoners, the rest are supposed to be demoralized and leave the country. However, when opposing forces eliminate the Taliban prisoners, then they will fight to the death. Interesting commentary.

[Redcloak]

Hmmm... I wonder if someone's game plan (Perhaps a "someone" with a great view of the Euphrates) included a part where the Taliban hold out against the Americans and weaken our resolve. That plan ain't looking so good now. In fact, we'll be all dressed up and looking for a place to go if the Northern Alliance does a good enough job of putting the hurt to bin Laden's laddies. Hmmm... Let's see now.. . Where could we go a play? Who's sandbox shall we visit?

[Anonymous2]

the only way to deal with all these nuts is in the language they understand. overwhelming setbacks. sudan is desperately trying to convince us they have 'changed their ways'. i almost think america has bought it.

[TKEman]

I suppose that the serious fighting and politicing began last week. The next several weeks will be eventful.

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

"That defecting Taliban Commander, debrief his sorry a@@ and shoot him."

"Pretty stupid idea. That'll just encourage the rest of the Taliban to fight to the death."

Agreed, shoot him first then debrief his sorry a@@.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Pretty stupid idea. That'll just encourage the rest of the Taliban to fight to the death.

Interesting commentary. When the Taliban kills prisoners, the other enemy soldiers are supposed to be afraid and leave the country in defeat. However, when opposing forces kill Taliban prisoners, the Taliban is motivated to "fight to the death".

Very interesting. I wish you would elaborate on how that kind of thing develops...

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Pretty stupid idea. That'll just encourage the rest of the Taliban to fight to the death.

Interesting commentary. When the Taliban kills prisoners, the other enemy soldiers are supposed to be afraid and leave the country in defeat. However, when opposing forces kill Taliban prisoners, the Taliban is motivated to "fight to the death".

Very interesting. I wish you would elaborate on how that kind of thing develops...

[dirtboy]

When the Taliban kills prisoners, the rest are supposed to be demoralized and leave the country. However, when opposing forces eliminate the Taliban prisoners, then they will fight to the death. Interesting commentary.

Pretty simple concept. If you bother to study the region, the Taliban do not have a very firm grip on power. The fact that a commander has already defected is a very interesting piece of intel. But if you kill the guy, no other commanders are gonna defect. It's a lot easier to defeat an army if you help along any inherent tendencies for it to self-destruct.

[Thorondir]

I can hear your knees knocking together, boy.

Liberalism must be crushed!

[Walkin Man]

They all look like Janet Reno.

Yikes!

That must be the reason for wrapping them up from head to toe in those black robes. Maybe some nice, peaceful muslim could convert Janet Reno and do the world a favor. ;)

[Deb]

No, the leaders are willing to recruit people to die for Allah. They don't do it themselves, silly.