Dreams Into Lightning

Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh

The case of the young Afghan journalist sentenced to death for "blasphemy" is getting some needed attention. (His case was mentioned in the January 24 Morning Report.) Harry's Place has the scoop:

Protesters marched through the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday in support of Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh who still faces the death penalty for alleged blasphemy.

According to a report from the Institute for War & Peace reporting and written by his brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, columns of people marched through the streets of Kabul holding portraits of Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh.

"The world media had snapped to attention, but for me it was especially important to see my own Afghan countrymen and women staging a demonstration for my brother, and for freedom. The January 31 protest was organised by the Afghanistan Solidarity Party.

"Many of the participants told me that although they did not know Parwez personally, they were marching to protect freedom of expression and democracy in Afghanistan.

"With shouts of 'Long live democracy!' and 'We demand Parwez’s release!', the demonstration went on for almost two hours, ending up at the front gate of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, where the protesters issued a statement."

Reuters:

Kambakhsh was detained three months ago after complaints from some of his university classmates for allegedly mocking Islam and the Koran, and for distributing an article which said the Prophet Mohammad had ignored the rights of women.

"We're concerned about this sentence that was handed down to a reporter for basically practicing his profession and we wouldn't want to see any actions taken that would limit his or anyone else's freedom of the press or freedom of expression," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

Even the UN's Louise Arbour is getting involved, according to the Independent:

It is understood that Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, wrote to senior Afghan officials last weekend, including President Hamid Karzai, concerning the fate of Mr Kambaksh, who has been sentenced to death for blasphemy after distributing a document from the internet that commented on Koranic verses about women's rights. Her Geneva-based staff did not provide details on her letter, apparently seeking to avoid publicity for fear that the mounting public pressure on the Afghan president to pardon Mr Kambaksh might prove counter-productive.

Well, at the risk of being "counter-productive", here's the Independent's online petition, and for Facebookers, here's a link to the Defend Sayad Parwez Kambakhsh group. All links courtesy of Harry's Place.

FSM on Afghanistan

Family Security Matters:

On Tuesday January 22nd last week, a 23-year-old student of journalism was sentenced to death at a court in Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province, in the north of Afghanistan. A panel of three judges sentenced Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, of Balkh University, for committing a "crime" that should have no place in a modern society. Kambaksh had breached Afghan law by "insulting Islam."

Kambaksh (also spelled Kaambakhsh) also worked as a journalist for the newspaper Jahan-e Naw ("The New World"). He brought into his university class a page downloaded from an Iranian internet site. This was of an article that questioned why Muslim men can have four wives while women have no such rights.

According to Hafizullah Khaliqyar, the deputy attorney general of Balkh province: "Based on the crimes Parwez Kaambakhsh committed, the primary court sentenced him to the most serious punishment which is the death penalty."

The court at which Kambaksh was tried was not open to the public, and the student was not allowed any defense lawyers. The "crime" took place last fall, and since his arrest by agents of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) on October 27th, Kambaksh has been in jail. He is still in prison, while his appeals process continues. Under current conditions, there is little chance Kambaksh will be reprieved, unless President Hamid Karzai intervenes. He has to appeal to two courts, and the death penalty can not be enacted until ratified by a higher court.

The legal problems facing Kambaksh reflect problems with the national constitution. They also involve religion. The week before he appeared in court, religious clerics from Balkh and Kunduz provinces held a demonstration in Mazar-i-Sharif, urging the government not to release him. The Council of Mullahs called for Kambaksh's death.

There are also political issues which appear to indicate that Kambaksh is being used as pawn to place pressure on other journalists who have exposed corruption, including his older brother. ...

Read the full article at the link.

Phyllis Chesler on "The Kite Runner" and Islam

Phyllis Chesler, who knows whereof she speaks, has praise for the film The Kite Runner and its portrayal of Afghanistan:

Last night I finally saw the film based on Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. I loved it—yes, even if it captures a pre-Taliban country more mythical than real. Nevertheless, the musical soundtrack, the recitation of classical poetry, the innocent kite-flying competitions in Kabul, (not to mention Homayoun Ershadi who strongly resembles Marcello Mastroianni), all comprise utterly charming scenes and characters carefully chosen and calibrated to help us distinguish between sophisticated and westernized Afghans who are non-violent, (I know many), and the barbarians amongst them.

I think that the film is also brave. First, it depicts a tall, thin, slightly effeminate, incredibly brutal pederast (“Assef”) who, although he is an Afghan through and through, reminds one of none other than Osama bin Laden. Both figures walk languidly; both teach “harsh” lessons. The film also shows us how the Taliban publicly stone a sobbing woman in a pink burqa to death and how they kidnap or purchase Afghan orphans, mainly girls, but sometimes also boys, as “dancing” sex-objects.

True, as shown, wealthy and western-educated Afghans did have private, gender-integrated dancing parties in the 1970s in Kabul—but the nature of Afghan society is better represented in both the novel and the film in how they depict Afghan marriage and family customs in America. Even those immigrants who live in San Francisco guard their women, expect would-be suitors to ask a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. ...

She goes on to explore the dynamic of misplaced "sensitivity" among Western liberals that creates a culture of leniency toward Islam-sanctioned barbaric actions. Go read the whole post at the link.

Ahmad Shah Massoud

Ahmad Shah Massoud - Wikipedia:

Ahmad Shah Massoud(Persian: احمد شاه مسعود Ahmad Shāh Mas'ūd) (c. September 2, 1953 –September 9, 2001) (variant transliterations include Ahmed, Masood, etc.) was an ethnic Tajik and a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the nickname "Lion of Panjshir". His supporters call him Amer Sahib e Shaheed, translating to our "Martyred Commander".

Ahmad Shah Massoud became Defence Minister of Afghanistan as early as 1992 under President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Following the collapse of Rabbani's government and the rise of the Taliban regime, Massoud became the military leader of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. In September 2001 Massoud was assassinated by al-Qaeda agents, allegedly with the complicity of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, and the following year he was named "National Hero" by the order of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.

In retrospect - as Transterrestrial Musings notes - his assassination was probably the beginning of the Al-Qaeda offensive that would become revealed and manifest to Americans two days later.

Here is the text of Shah Massoud's 1998 Letter to the People of America:

A Message to the People of the United States of America

I send this message to you today on behalf of the freedom and peace-loving people of Afghanistan, the Mujahedeen freedom fighters who resisted and defeated Soviet communism, the men and women who are still resisting oppression and foreign hegemony and, in the name of more than one and a half million Afghan martyrs who sacrificed their lives to uphold some of the same values and ideals shared by most Americans and Afghans alike. This is a crucial and unique moment in the history of Afghanistan and the world, a time when Afghanistan has crossed yet another threshold and is entering a new stage of struggle and resistance for its survival as a free nation and independent state.

I have spent the past 20 years, most of my youth and adult life, alongside my compatriots, at the service of the Afghan nation, fighting an uphill battle to preserve our freedom, independence, right to self-determination and dignity. Afghans fought for God and country, sometime alone, at other times with the support of the international community. Against all odds, we, meaning the free world and Afghans, halted and checkmated Soviet expansionism a decade ago. But the embattled people of my country did not savor the fruits of victory. Instead they were thrust in a whirlwind of foreign intrigue, deception, great-gamesmanship and internal strife. Our country and our noble people were brutalized, the victims of misplaced greed, hegemonic designs and ignorance. We Afghans erred too. Our shortcomings were as a result of political innocence, inexperience, vulnerability, victimization, bickering and inflated egos. But by no means does this justify what some of our so-called Cold War allies did to undermine this just victory and unleash their diabolical plans to destroy and subjugate Afghanistan.

Today, the world clearly sees and feels the results of such misguided and evil deeds. South-Central Asia is in turmoil, some countries on the brink of war. Illegal drug production, terrorist activities and planning are on the rise. Ethnic and religiously-motivated mass murders and forced displacements are taking place, and the most basic human and women’s rights are shamelessly violated. The country has gradually been occupied by fanatics, extremists, terrorists, mercenaries, drug Mafias and professional murderers. One faction, the Taliban, which by no means rightly represents Islam, Afghanistan or our centuries-old cultural heritage, has with direct foreign assistance exacerbated this explosive situation. They are unyielding and unwilling to talk or reach a compromise with any other Afghan side.

Unfortunately, this dark accomplishment could not have materialized without the direct support and involvement of influential governmental and non-governmental circles in Pakistan. Aside from receiving military logistics, fuel and arms from Pakistan, our intelligence reports indicate that more than 28,000 Pakistani citizens, including paramilitary personnel and military advisers are part of the Taliban occupation forces in various parts of Afghanistan. We currently hold more than 500 Pakistani citizens including military personnel in our POW camps. Three major concerns - namely terrorism, drugs and human rights - originate from Taliban-held areas but areinstigated from Pakistan, thus forming the inter-connecting angles of an evil triangle. For many Afghans, regardless of ethnicity or religion, Afghanistan, for the second time in one decade, is once again an occupied country.

Let me correct a few fallacies that are propagated by Taliban backers and their lobbies around the world. This situation over the short and long-run, even in case of total control by the Taliban, will not be to anyone’s interest. It will not result in stability, peace and prosperity in the region. The people of Afghanistan will not accept such a repressive regime. Regional countries will never feel secure and safe. Resistance will not end in Afghanistan, but will take on a new national dimension, encompassing all Afghan ethnic and social strata.

The goal is clear. Afghans want to regain their right to self-determination through a democratic or traditional mechanism acceptable to our people. No one group, faction or individual has the right to dictate or impose its will by force or proxy on others. But first, the obstacles have to be overcome, the war has to end, just peace established and a transitional administration set up to move us toward a representative government.

We are willing to move toward this noble goal. We consider this as part of our duty to defend humanity against the scourge of intolerance, violence and fanaticism. But the international community and the democracies of the world should not waste any valuable time, and instead play their critical role to assist in any way possible the valiant people of Afghanistan overcome the obstacles that exist on the path to freedom, peace, stability and prosperity.

Effective pressure should be exerted on those countries who stand against the aspirations of the people of Afghanistan. I urge you to engage in constructive and substantive discussions with our representatives and all Afghans who can and want to be part of a broad consensus for peace and freedom for Afghanistan.

With all due respect and my best wishes for the government and people of the United States,

Ahmad Shah Massoud.

MSNBC Analysis: Osama Reinvigorated on Video Tape

MSNBC:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - When Osama bin Laden resurfaced Friday in a 26-minute videotaped speech, his most important message was one left unsaid: We have survived.

The last time bin Laden showed his face to the world was three years ago, in October 2004. Since then, al-Qaeda 's core leadership -- dubbed al-Qaeda Central by intelligence analysts -- has grown stronger, rebuilding the organizational framework that was badly damaged after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan , according to counterterrorism officials in Pakistan , the United States and Europe . ...

Watch the complete Osama bin Laden videotape at this link.

Mullah Dadullah

Welcome, Mullah Dadullah, to the exclusive but ever-growing ranks of the Dead Terrorists. We hope you enjoy your stay.

Wikipedia - Mullah Dadullah:

Mullah Dadullah or Dadullah Akhund (1966? – May 12, 2007) was an ethnic Pashtun from Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. He was the Taliban's senior military commander until his death in 2007.

StrategyPage:

May 14, 2007: In a major setback, the senior Taliban field commander, Mullah Dadullah, was cornered and killed by NATO forces in Helmand province over the weekend. NATO and Afghan troops have been chasing Dadullah around southern Afghanistan for a month. Dadullah knew he was being tracked, and his pursuers knew he was trying to get to safety in Pakistan. This time, Dadullah didn't make it.

Dadullah was a member of the Council of Ten that runs the Taliban, and the chief military strategist. Getting killed may have been a good career move, because his terror strategy wasn't working. The Taliban were getting battered worse this year than last, and Taliban popularity was declining in the south. Now the Taliban can simultaneously praise Dadullah as a martyr for the cause, and the reason the cause is failing. The Taliban first denied, then admitted Dadullah was dead. Dadullah was a big fan of terrorism, but he was also important because he managed to get normally hostile groups to cooperate with each other. The government will probably be able to get more Taliban groups to negotiate peace deals now, without the threat of Dadullah "punishing traitors."

Stratfor:

Geopolitical Diary: Examining Mullah Dadullah's Death
Stratfor, 5/14/07, 8:00 CDT

Afghan intelligence announced on Sunday that top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah was killed early Saturday during a battle with an Afghan-NATO force in Helmand province. The 40-year-old Taliban leader had emerged as the most important operational commander on which Mullah Mohammad Omar could rely in pressing ahead with the jihadist insurgency in the country. Under his leadership, the Pashtun jihadist movement adopted the tactic of suicide bombings, and he represented the faction close to al Qaeda.

Dadullah's killing is the first major success for Kabul and NATO against the Pashtun jihadists since the resurgence of the Taliban shortly after the ouster of their regime in
2001.

CTB:

On May 10, 2007, the Nine Eleven Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation was able to secure access to an exclusive interview with Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah--only 24 hours before Dadullah was killed by Afghan and NATO military forces. During what would become his final interview, Dadullah stated that American and British Al-Qaida recruits are in the midst of planning and training for new terrorist strikes in their home countries: "We will be executing attacks in Britain and the U.S. to demonstrate our sincerity," he explained in Pashto, "to destroy their cities as they have destroyed our cities." A senior U.S. official told the Blotter on ABCNews.com that recent intelligence reports confirmed Dadullah's claim that U.S. citizens were being trained in Taliban and al Qaeda camps. "The number is small, not large, but even once is dangerous," the official said.

ABC News:

Thirty-six hours before he was killed by U.S. forces, Taliban Commander Mullah Dadullah said he was training American and British citizens to carry out suicide missions in their home countries, according to a videotape interview to be broadcast on ABC News' "World News" Monday.

"We will be executing attacks in Britain and the U.S. to demonstrate our sincerity," he told an Afghan interviewer, "to destroy their cities as they have destroyed our cities."

Linda:

I hope it hurt. I hope it hurt a lot.

Airstrike Kills Taliban Leader

Fox News: 'KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO-led forces killed a senior Taliban leader with a precision airstrike near a southern Afghan town overrun by militants, a spokesman for the alliance said Sunday. Col. Tom Collins said the airstrike near Musa Qala on Sunday morning killed a senior Taliban leader riding in a car. Musa Qala on Thursday was overrun by an estimated 200 Taliban fighters who disarmed local police, ransacked the district center and hoisted their trademark white flag.'

The Fourth Rail:

The BBC reports the Taliban have finally taken the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province. "Two residents of Musa Qala estimated that between 200 and 300 Taliban fighters had overtaken the town," reports the Associated Press. "They said the fighters took weapons from the police on Wednesday and destroyed the town's government center late Thursday." Just fall, the British military, without the approval of NATO command, negotiated a 'peace' with 'local elders,' much like the Waziristan Accord agreement between Pakistani government and the Taliban and al-Qaeda. But the truth is the British signed a deal with the devil, and turned over Musa Qala to the Taliban.

We noted in November that this deal had ceded Musa Qala to the Taliban. Tim Lynch, a security contractor operating in Afghanistan, informed us that the al rayah, the black flag of al-Qaeda, was flying outside the district center in Musa Qala. An American intelligence source confirmed this account.

The United States has indicated it is preparing forces to retake what the British handed over in Musa Qala. ...

Read the rest, with links, at The Fourth Rail.

Stratfor: '1553 GMT - Taliban commander Mullah Ghafour was killed Feb. 4 in Afghanistan during a NATO airstrike on his vehicle, near Musa Qala in Hemland province.'

Hekmatyar Arrest Report Incorrect

Well, it was too good to be true. Previous reports of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's arrest in Afghanistan on September 11 have proved to be incorrect:

... a subsequent identification by fingerprinting indicates the person in question is not Hekmatyar. The captured suspect is a high level commander in Hezb-i-Islami, and is said to be a dead ringer for Hekmatyar.

Hat tip: Judith at Kesher Talk.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Arrested in Afghanistan

UPDATE: Unfortunately this report proved to be incorrect. Correction posted here.

Previous Dreams Into Lightning report here.

The Fourth Rail:

The commander of Hezb-i-Islami and al-Qaeda ally detained during a raid in eastern Afghanistan

On the day of the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attack, Coalition forces score a high value target in Afghanistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the commander of Hezb-i-Islami and ally of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has been captured during a joint U.S. and Afghan Army raid in “eastern Afghanistan.” Hekmatyar, contrary to his rhetoric gave up to the Coalition forces without a fight. Hekmatyar's arrest is said to be part of an 'ongoing operation.'

Winds of Change: 'Hekmatyar has been a problem for a long time as the commander of Hezb-i-Islami and ally of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In fact, I've disliked him for longer than that, and with reason.' Follow Joe Katzman's link to Hekmatyar's profile.

Via LGF, here's (again) M&C:

Kabul - In an operation launched by Afghan coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, a known al-Qaeda facilitator and six other suspected al-Qaeda associates were detained, coalition forces said.

The commander of the Hizb-i-Islami militia in Hafezan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, was arrested after credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to his compound, the statement said.

No shots were fired and there were no injuries reported.

Hikmatyar, the former prime minister of Afghanistan, announced jihad or holy war against what he called the US invasion of Afghanistan four and half years ago and the joint opposition of the Afghan government by Taliban and al-Qaeda in the fight against coalition forces.

Two other al-Qaeda suspects were arrested last week in the south- eastern province of Khost.

Finally, Judith at Kesher Talk remembers Sheikh Massoud:

On September 9, 2001, two days before planes flew into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the last remaining anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan was assassinated by two suicide bombers pretending to be journalists. The bomb was hidden in their camera. A documentary filmmaker and newspaper editor, Faheem Dashty, was almost killed in the blast. The assassins were sent by Osama bin Laden, in concert with the Taliban, who wanted to eliminate Massoud before turning their attention to the US.

Go read it all.

Afghan Roundup

Stratfor: 'Britain will consider adding troops to its current deployment of 3,300 in Afghanistan, British Defense Secretary Des Browne said July 6. The announcement came amid escalating violence in Afghanistan and requests from British commanders for an increase in troop numbers.'

Douglas Farah:

Terrorism experts in and out of the intelligence community are growing increasingly concerned about the "Pakistanization" of the resurgent Taliban in the tribal territories that border Afghanistan.

There is increasingly strong evidence that lower-level ISI officers not only tolerate the Taliban, but host training camps for them and provide logisitcal support, helping the Taliban to regain political and military footing that is taking an increasingly heavy toll on the the Afghan central government as well as the U.S. and NATO forces on the ground.

It also seems that senior ISI [Pakistani intelligence] officials can get in contact with Osama bin Laden or Zawahiri when necessary, indicating that, if not necessarily aware of the exact location at all times of the two most wanted men in the world, there still exist channels of direct communication.

This is certainly troubling, given Pakistan's central role in the Bush strategy of fighting Islamists. The recent Bush policy of working with India on its nuclear projects seems to have convinced the Pakistani leadership that Pakistan is not getting a fair shake and can therefore does not need to pay the internal political price for tackling the Islamists in a serious fashion. ...

Counterterrorism Blog: 'Last evening, ABC News' Brian Ross reported, via the Blotter, that al-Qaeda would soon be releasing a tape commemorating the one year anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings. Al Jazeera is currently airing the tape. According to Brian Ross, Ayman al-Zawahiri is seen on the tape, along with Adam Gadahn (AKA Azzam al-Amriki), the American al-Qaeda who works in al-Qaeda's propaganda division. There is a "last will and testament of Shahzad Tanweer," one of the 7/7 London suicide bombers.' [link] 'Walid Phares: Summary of statements on MSNBC: There are a variety of lessons from the release of this tape. 1) al-Qaeda does have material which they store, use and release at the proper moment. 2) There is a political mind behind al-Qaeda, which they rely on to use the material, and use the media to get out their political message. The minds behind the attack have a public relations agenda. These attacks are not the work of frustrated Muslims, but that of an international organization. al-Qaeda is observing Britain's political debate and tailoring their message for maximum political effect. The tape is a call to the international network to conduct future attacks. The London attack is viewed as a success and other local affiliates should emulate this strike.'

AP via Intelligence Summit :

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)- Security forces backed by helicopter gunships targeted hideouts of tribal militants accused of blowing up gas pipelines and attacking officials in southwestern Pakistan, killing 25 suspects, a senior Cabinet minister said Wednesday.

The security forces also seized a cache of weapons, including rockets, land mines and other munition during the two-day operation near Sui, a town about 210 miles east of Quetta, Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press.

Sherpao termed the operation "an important success," but did not elaborate.

Abdul Razak Bugti, the spokesman for the Baluchistan government said the victims were supporters of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a tribal elder who is allegedly leading the insurgency in various parts of the province. ...

Sanjar: 'The existence of foreign workers in Afghanistan was perceived by most Afghans as a neutral, impartial and unbiased development force, exactly what Afghanistan needed when they couldn’t trust each other. In the traditional Afghan civil and social system the inferior–superior relationship is personal. Expatriates on the other hand, didn’t represent an authority as they are not to establish one but are there to do their job; the job was legitimized by a belief in the fair and correctness of the process. Expatriates were not loyal to a tribe or ethnicity or individual; they rather function in an impersonal order, toward an aim which served for the better of Afghans, not to the specific country or interest. When one shifts the focus of attention from foreign assistance to the role of individual expatriate worker, substantial positive differences were noticed in comparison to the traditional Afghan system. ... '

Afghan Warrior:

According to the news reports, Afghanistan's intelligence department has issued a two page document to the local media which restricts their activities. This decision sparked the anger of the Afghan journalists around the country because this two page document stops the local newspapers from doing their important and main activities. The free press has made magnificent progress since the fall of the Taliban. According to the Afghan constitution the free press has the right to carry out their activities with out any pressure from the government or any other organizations. So in my opinion the government should reverse its decision and our media should be free to publish the reality and tell our people what is going on in their country. Every day in our newspapers the top articles are about roadside bombing, suicide attacks, militant activities and also there are articles about the ANA and coalition forces attacks on enemies and their success over the enemies. And if our media and newspapers do not report these important news items then there will not be any important news for them to publish and the newspapers will be almost blank because there are not much reports about reconstruction in our country. In the free world the newspapers have the right to publish good news and bad news.

Publishing news about the terrorists attacks will not weaken our government. The terrorist attacks will increase the aversion of our people to the enemies and they will try to help their government to identify the enemies and avoid the attacks. Our people will never support the enemies - they have already suffered war for almost 3 decades and they will never support the enemies of peace and freedom. ...