Misunderstanders of Islam disrupt Afghan peace conference with suicide attacks

Karzai offers them an olive branch, they return with gunfire and suicide attacks. "Militants attack as Afghan peace conference starts," by Kathy Gannon and Rahim Faiez for Associated Press, June 2 (thanks to Mr. Pakol):

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban suicide attackers struck at the national peace conference as it opened Wednesday in the Afghan capital, waging gunbattles near the venue. At least two attackers were killed but no delegates were hurt, officials said.
The attack, including rocket fire, started minutes after President Hamid Karzai began his opening address to some 1,600 dignitaries gathered for the conference, in which he appealed for rank-and-file Taliban members to stop fighting for the sake of the country.

The Taliban, which had earlier threatened to kill anyone who took part, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press, saying they intended to sabotage the three-day conference.

The conference, known as a peace jirga, continued despite the attack....

Karzai's remarks were interesting:

"There are thousands of Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami, they are not the enemies of this soil," Karzai said.
He said continuing fighting would only prevent the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.

"Make peace with me and there will be no need for foreigners here. As long as you are not talking to us, not making peace with us, we will not let the foreigners leave," Karzai said.

About 10 minutes into his speech, Karzai was briefly interrupted by an explosion outside, which police said was a rocket. Karzai heard the thud, but dismissed it, telling delegates, "Don't worry. We've heard this kind of thing before."

Soon afterward, an AP reporter nearby heard a loud explosion and saw smoke rising from a second apparent rocket attack that struck about 100 meters (yards) from the venue, a huge tent pitched on a university compound.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard to the south of the venue, and security forces rushed to the area. Helicopters flew overhead....

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10 Comments

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tanstaafl | June 2, 2010 5:15 AM | Reply

And we thought that Vietnam was a quagmire.

American Delight | June 2, 2010 5:20 AM | Reply

Thank goodness Obama is in charge. He'll fix everything. He's the only one who recognizes the true nature of violent misunderstanderism and how to defeat it.

Mobamad replied to comment from tanstaafl | June 2, 2010 5:27 AM | Reply

Right, and just like Vietnam our troops are being betrayed by the politicians in washington, and will most likely end up being labeled as the enemy, as we cant seem to find, or even define the enemy (Islam) there.

Stormwarning | June 2, 2010 5:42 AM | Reply

"As long as you are not talking to us, not making peace with us, we will not let the foreigners leave," Karzai said."

As we used to say, when I was a kid, that one is so funny I forgot to laugh.

dumbledoresarmy | June 2, 2010 5:43 AM | Reply

Can you imagine what Monty Python could do with this?

Quiet Man | June 2, 2010 7:23 AM | Reply

Why is the USA even attempting a ground war over there. We can never reason with these kooks, they will always want to kill us, when we leave they will continue to kill each other, they will never be democratic in our lifetimes. Or does our government have some secret knowledge of the Islamic barbarians they are keeping from the rest of the world? Evidently not.

Pazuzu | June 2, 2010 8:31 AM | Reply

Hamid is an opportunistic fool and will probably, ultimately be asasinated for trying to play two sides against the middle. I DO; however, admire his jaunty cap.

tanstaafl replied to comment from Pazuzu | June 2, 2010 8:43 AM | Reply

Gotta love the hat.

But -"Make peace with me and there will be no need for foreigners here. As long as you are not talking to us, not making peace with us, we will not let the foreigners leave," Karzai said.

You know, it's always those pesky foreigners. Soon, Afghani men will not get to marry little girls, beat their wives or have Tuesday "man-boy" night. Some might even have to get jobs and be productive. Afghani women will have equal rights and stop wearing burqas. Infidels would have the same rights as believers. Electricity and running water. The Qur'an might get translated into Dari.

Yep, those foreigners will turn Afghanistan into a real hellhole.

gravenimage | June 2, 2010 1:52 PM | Reply

"There are thousands of Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami, they are not the enemies of this soil," Karzai said.

He said continuing fighting would only prevent the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.

"Make peace with me and there will be no need for foreigners here. As long as you are not talking to us, not making peace with us, we will not let the foreigners leave," Karzai said.
................

There was a moronic cover story in last week's New Yorker by Steve Coll, "Can the Taliban be won over?".

Here's Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, formerly of the Taliban's ruling Shura Council, and Taliban ambassador to Pakistan—one of the few countries that recognized the Taliban as legitimate—interviewed by Coll:

"I mentioned that some in the Obama Administration seemed reluctant to engage with the Taliban because of its record on human-rights issues—the mistreatment of minorities, the destruction of Afghan cultural monuments, the harsh administration of justice, and the banning of female education as a violation of Islamic law. I asked Zaeef if he believed the Taliban's views had changed.

"It belongs to the people of Afghanistan as to what to implement," he answered. "If we are making Islam to the interpretation of America, then we are destroying Islam. The people of Afghanistan, they are Muslims, and nobody is rejecting Islam here."
........................

"And nobody is rejecting Islam here." Indeed not. Right now, Karzai is holding out the vision of the "foreigners"—the Infidels—leaving, if only the Taliban pretends peace for a time.

Should he get his wish, though, I imagine Karzai will be assassinated as soon as the last of the Americans fly out of Bagram.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh described holding power in Yemen as "Dancing on the Heads of Snakes"—it is no different in oh-so-very-Islamic Afghanistan.

Kinana of Khaybar | June 2, 2010 11:23 PM | Reply

The suicidal attackers reportedly used burqas as disguises to get past some 12000 security personnel. The burqa as disguise was originally mentioned in this story, but now they (AP) have apparently removed that part. However, if you search this event (e.g., kabul suicide taliban burqa ) including the term burqa you will find many sources that include mention of the burqa.

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