Mohammad Razaq Yaqubi said that. He must be some kind of Islamophobe. "Taliban continue to expand their reach," by Gull Rohm Niazmand for MCT News Service, October 20 (thanks to James):
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan The insignia on the door says the vehicle belongs to the provincial police. But the man behind the wheel is clearly a member of the Taliban.The insurgents recently captured eight Ford Ranger pickup trucks from the police in this northeastern province that borders Tajikistan.
It's easy to tell when it's the Taliban who are speeding through the Chahr Dara district of the province. They blare loud Islamic and national songs from the speakers mounted on the roof of the truck and hug each other as they careen through the streets. [...]
The Taliban have complete control over Chahr Dara. They have established their own brand of Islamic rule, and they can move around the villages and bazaars openly.
"We have control only over the governor's office," said the district governor of Chahr Dara, Abdul Wahid. "Outside those walls we have no jurisdiction at all. People do not come to the governor's office to solve their problems they go to the Taliban." [...]
Provincial police chief Mohammad Razaq Yaqubi blames drugs smugglers for the increased presence of insurgents.
"The Taliban try to increase cultivation and production of opium in this region," he said. "This war in Kunduz belongs to the narcotics mafia, which is operating in the name of Islam." [...]
One local resident, who refused to give his name, said he's seen U.S. forces aiding the insurgents.
"I saw it with my own eyes," he said. "I was bringing my cattle home in the evening, and I saw Taliban getting off American helicopters. They were also unloading motorcycles from these aircraft. Later, a local mullah whom I know very well went to talk to the Americans, and then the helicopter left."
Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, dismissed such reports.
"The U.S is not supporting Taliban militants, nor are we expanding the conflict into Central Asia," she said. "The Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and specifically instability within those two countries, is keeping American and NATO forces busy enough," she said.
"As for rumors, I honestly feel it is a natural reaction by people as they try to understand the difficult situations they face," Mathias said. "(Government and coalition forces) continue to combat destabilizing forces in the area and communicate those efforts to the residents of Kunduz."...
Afghanistan bad bad bad place. Have you listened to our troops? They can smell the disaster, the palpable idiocy of the 'hearts and mind' crap, the bottomless treachery, greed and amorality of our 'Afghan allies'.
I recall reading in the weeks following 9/11, in a mainstream media source, that the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda claimed they were using the narcotics trade as a means of waging war against western civilization. By getting these addictive, life-destroying drugs into western countries, they claimed they were aiming to destroy people's lives and incur costs, weakening western societies. (The narcotics trade was only one among a list of non-military means these groups claimed to be using to undermine the West).
I'm sure the Taliban is perfectly content to drug the West into a permanent stupor, but I don't think that's their primary motivation. The Taliban are receiving massive revenues through the ushr, the Koran-based harvest tax. Poppies are worth more than other crops, the Taliban wants more ushr, so the Taliban want more poppy farms.
The Taliban also collect duties & fees on Afghan drug labs and drug shipments.
As a separate point on the whole article, the "narcotics mafia" is not running the show. These are JIHADISTS who are funding themselves through drug money. These are not Columbian or Mexican drug traffickers out for profit for its own sake. These are men pursuing money to reinvest into jihad.
I've always said the Mafia and the Nazis should have declared themselves "religions."
I have read elsewhere that we are selectively cooperating with the Taliban. Apparently, it is our new WhiteHouse strategy, You know, if we are nice to them....And besides they didn't attack us it was that nasty Bin Laden and his Al Q crew.
I wish we could just let the military do what they need to do. Screw the PR and the liberal outrage, lets get it done.
This is getting ugly quickly, and I have zero confidence in the current occupant of the WH to wage this war. Already the lack of vision and purpose is demoralizing our troops, who continue in harm's way. Either we play to win - and it's becoming less clear what that would look like or if it's even possible - or we need to get out.