The Taliban Imposter: Another Sign of Trouble in Afghanistan
It’s been a rough few weeks with the War in Afghanistan. Last week, it was revealed that we’re likely to be in Afghanistan until at least 2014. This week began with the news that almost 120 candidates in the September elections were disqualified for suspicion of fraud. And just today: the main Taliban “negotiator” with whom we’ve been talking for months about ending the war was revealed to be an imposter.
ASG member Juan Cole wrote a great piece about the imposter issue today:
“The announcement by the New York Times that one of the supposedly prominent Taliban with whom the Karzai government has been negotiating turns out to be an impostor is only the latest depressing indication that the whole Afghanistan boondoggle is shot through with flimflammery. The US gave a man claiming to be Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, Mullah Omar’s number two, “a lot of money” to engage in talks. He also was flown to Kabul to consult with President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace (Karzai, terrified of looking like a laughingstock, denied the meeting).” Click here for the full the story.
