CNN's new "Taliban" documentary, which debuts this Saturday Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. ET, provides an unprecedented insider's perspective of a resilient and resourceful adversary that has kept U.S.-led coalition forces bogged down in Afghanistan for the past decade.
CNN provided me with an advance copy of the film and helped arrange a discussion with the steel-nerved filmmaker, Norwegian journalist Paul Refsdal, who risked his life embedding himself in a Taliban fighting unit in Kunar province -- a move supposedly blessed by Taliban leadership.
However, as Refsdal described to CNN's Anderson Cooper in the video, his heart-rending experience of going from invited guest to kidnap victim certainly forced him to question his decision.
Although Refsdal did escape, it was not before converting to Islam in an effort to save his own life after an al Qaeda member informed him he would be executed as a spy. But it is interesting to note that, to this day, Paul still considers himself a Muslim.
Refsdal is no stranger to combat zones, spending the last 26 years reporting from the frontlines of intense conflicts the world over, including a trip to Afghanistan in 1984 when he covered the Mujahideen during their U.S.-funded jihad against the Soviets.
I asked Paul if he saw many differences between the Mujahideen of the 1980s and today's Taliban holy warriors. Refsdal explained that while the Mujahideen had more advanced weaponry (as a result of U.S. funding via Pakistan's intelligence service) -- including RPGs and portable heat-seeking, surface-to-air missiles called Stingers -- they were less serious and less devout than the Taliban.
The Taliban seem more mature and take the conflict more seriously but, then again, they have no choice considering they're fighting against the world's most advanced combined military forces.
The Mujahideen, on the other hand, were fighting against a waning Soviet empire that used old tanks, refused to fight at night and bombed the countryside indiscriminately as opposed to employing more sophisticated guerrilla tactics.
Refsdal was struck by how his hosts defied the popular depiction of the Taliban as narrow-minded fanatics. The Taliban commander was actually bound by Pashtunwali, the Pashtun moral code, to protect and treat his guest well because hospitality is a key virtue in Afghan tribal society (of course, the sub-commander broke these laws when he later kidnapped Paul for ransom -- watch the documentary for the details).
Refsdal was able to capture their humanity on film during long hours of downtime between ambushes, showing the Taliban singing, praying and playing games to kill time, such as seeing who could throw a large stone the farthest.
Paul constantly asked them not to modify their behavior or routines in the least, because Refsdal was less interested in filming action scenes and more focused on capturing images such as the Taliban playing with their children -- images that portrayed the realities of everyday life (which they didn't quite understand).
The film also shows the Taliban readying for battle, and in one clip their commander gives a pep talk that is actually profound in light of the current debate in Washington surrounding the war's rationale and validity. The commander posed a series of rhetorical questions to his troops:
We [the Taliban] are fighting for our religion, our freedom, our honor and our land. What are their [NATO's] goals? For what purpose are they fighting us? Are they oppressed? Have they been treated unfairly? Are they living in a dictatorship?
According to Refsdal, most Taliban are motivated to fight because of foreign occupation rather than jihadist ideology. Although Islam is important to them -- it is but one aspect of their national identity.
The Taliban Paul met seem nationalistic -- religion has nothing to do with why most of them joined the Taliban in the first place. As Paul told me:
They are not fighting because of Islam or jihad -- they are fighting against occupation. If they were all Hindus, the Afghans would still be trying to drive out the outsiders.
During the film a Taliban commander mentioned that his funding came from Pakistan -- which touches upon a very controversial issue between U.S. and Pakistani leaders. Paul said, from what he gathered, many of these contributions flowed in from Salafi Taliban spiritual leaders and businessmen based out of Peshawar, but he was unsure of (and they would never tell him) if Pakistani intelligence or military were involved.
Finally, I asked Paul when he looked around at the 30-year-old weapons, dirt floors, and clay outposts, combined with the fact the Taliban never really train during downtime -- was it hard to believe NATO hasn't achieved its objectives?
He answered my question with a question -- a good one at that: "What are NATO's objectives?" And not unlike the type of questions posed by the Taliban commander cited earlier, I assumed Paul's also was rhetorical in nature.
Michael Hughes writes similar articles as the Afghanistan Headlines Examiner and the Geopolitics Examiner for Examiner.com.
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http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/All-Female-US-Marines-Battalion/ss/events/us/120910fetmarines
Salute to the brave US Marines women and men. I hope they find Paul's Taliban choir and teach them a lesson.
I wonder if brother Paul cared in the documentary to show the advancement in women rights movement and various achievements in Taliban's Afghanistan?
"a resilient and resourceful adversary that has kept U.S.-led coalition forces bogged down in Afghanistan for the past decade."
- He means the fanatics responsible for 9/11.
"He means the fanatics responsible for 9/11"
He means he really doesn't have any proof that ANYONE currently fighting NATO forces had ANYTHING to do with 9/11 but he'll say it anyway.
Granted we all know this background, but how can a story like this make any sense at all without a connection to the reason for our invasion? I take it as an example of how sometimes news stories are biased because of what they do not say.
The documentary is for the world. I want to know the whole story how the Talaban rose,how the US financed them, how ABL worked amongst them, their fall, the casualties, people flying the drones ...etc
He wants to document them playing with their children and singing. A balanced documentary should show the fill story and not isolate a specific spot.
What reason do you think bin Laden had for striking America from Afghanistan and not some other place? Or do you think he gave that decision no thought? What convinces you that Afghans have no awareness of bin Laden's actions and Afghanistan's complicity in not delivering bin Laden for trial?
This war has been called by some the Long War. Do you understand why?
Which is why we cannot defeat them. They live there.
Afghanistan exists as only one front in the war that Islamist Muslims have declared on the West. Analyzing each small grove of trees causes you to miss the fact that those trees are part of a large forest.
There is a deep division among analysts of this phenomenon as to whether or not the forest exists. As time goes on, it seems to be getting harder and harder to deny its existence.
Nationalism and local political issues certainly play a part in the Islamist cause. But to say the conflict is merely a large number of local and regional fights is untenable.
What we are seeing is a loosely coordinated, Sharia law based, irredentist effort to revive the Caliphate and all its lands through the implementation of Sharia law.
Yes, between the honest analysts and those paid by Israeli lobby that wants to recruit the west for its own gains. You seem to belong to the second group.
It is the "Great Game" amongst India, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States and its European allies.
It is ethnic rivalries Non-Pashtuns Vs. Pashtuns.
It is about the tribal balance. Hamid Karzai's Popalzai tribe in dominance and depriving other tribes in Southern Afghanistan.
There other factors for example the ANA consists of non-Pashtuns
But the most ironic is Mr. Hamid Karzai and his cronies’ corrupt government shipping money in pallets to foreign banks.
All those are symptoms of the war and in most areas West lacks knowledge and understanding to deal with. Pakistan is being paid with U.S. Military hardware and money, but Paksitanis shipping militants across the border to kill U.S. soldiers.
To all that there are not too many options except an Afghan solution.
In essence, their is jihad of self, fighting one's sin, getting up in the morning for prayer, doing good and forbading bad. The there is jihad fee sabili Allahl, men who fight for uphold the tenets, commands of Allah swt and his prophet; retake and remove the kafireen from Muslim lands and so on is jihad fee sabili allahi!
So these terms that are used in the west for jihad are wrong and capricious.Western reports especially from CNN are design to demonize and castigate Islam while promoting and distorting realities from Mujahideen.
To make it more clear, according to the Qur'an and ahadiths, every Muslim is required to help is brother from invaders and oppressers from destroying Islam and the Muslimeen.
The article failed to mention that there are many Muslims from all racial and ethnic backgrounds fighting with the Taliban and other Mujahideen in Muslim lands. And the Taliban has grown from 30,000 to nearly 40,000 members.
An interesting situation is the ahadith from the prophet sws on the Black flags of Khorasan, which mirrors the Taliban and the jihad that will start from Afghanistan to Jerusalem. And, it was told that this jihad will eventually feature the Al Mahdi and won't be defeated.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/16/our-take-how-to-reclaim-islam-from-the-radicals/
Many Muslims themselves don't understand the meaning or use jihad right, especially those in the west, where by western influence has taken hold. But, there is a difference between jihad and jihad fee sabili Allahi.
None authorized the killings of innocent human beings is a defensive measure and it is connected to prayer, ways and means of Islamic life.
If a Muslim is not in harmony with his or her practice as a Muslim, this struggle takes even more of a difficult task. With that said, even the strong Muslim known as a Mu'min or Mu'mineen for many, are attacked by evil forces of shaytan (the devil).
When one is in harmony with the fitrah and others aspects in Islam, it is more easier to fight these evil forces.
Jihad has been misused in the west to mean holy war, which is wrong. Since in Arabic Al harb Al Mukadassa means holy war, and there is no such wording in the Qur'an. Matter of fact, the prophet sws say that war is a deception and it should not be asked for.
I am well aware of the rules requiring war in Islam and the west stops attacking Muslim lands, these Mujahideen and Makauamah forces will dry up!
Back during the Soviet/Afghanistan war, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, UAE and the rest of GCC in compliance with US promoted this. Now, the ideology remains, but the invader is changed.
This doesn't make sense. The legend of Al Mahdi that is also limited to Jafari Shia didn't even start until hundreds of years after Mohamed, and khorasani forces got involved early by assisting the Abbasids to take control of the Caliphate from the Umayyads in 8th century.
The ahadiths on this topic of the Black Flags of Khorasan is being discussed by many scholars, and the figh on this ahaidths are in dispute. Nevertheless, you should research further.
The Al Mahdi is not a Shi'ah, since some of the Shi'ah believe that he is hear now and others claimed to be the Al Mahdi.
I suggest that you learn the figh in this case, review some of the khutbah on this matter on Youtube to understand fully.
Kinda takes the air out of all the WOT rhetoric....
We shall see.
More Coffee...
R/ PRONESE