Mullah Omar's Eid al Fitr Message

[MSG Proctor]

On the occasion of the end of Ramadan (known as Ramazan here in Afghanistan), Mullah Omar, self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released a seven page mini-festo which neatly capsulizes the current insurgent IO campaign. His COIN TTP seem to be identified below, however fictional/factual one may deem them to be, he seems convicted that his side is winning and that ultimate victory is inevitable (paragraph 30). General Allen's rebuttal (USFOR-A and ISAF Commanding General) is here.

Mujahideen Brothers:

24. My Respected and beloved Mujahideen Brothers!

It is a matter of pleasure that the Almighty Allah has selected us for the service of the religion and privileged us to be engaged in the grand worship of Jihad. Your determination in the cause of defense of your religion, the people and the country and your willingness to render any sacrifice at any time, speak of your strong belief, lofty spirit, unwavering determination, love of honor and free conscious. In fact, you are a cause of pride for all the world, particularly, for the Islamic Ummah and your honor-loving people. You are the pioneers of freedom and liberation in the 21st century and eminent heroes of valor and courage.

Dear brothers:

Our Jihad and sacrifice will bear fruitful results if we wage jihad in the manner the holy prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) have waged it.

25. Pay close attention to the protection of life, property and honor of your miserable people. Behave with them with a behavior, being full of sympathy, love, respect and compassion in the footstep of the lofty characteristics and morals of the holy prophet (peace be upon him). Obtain the hearts of the people by the power of noble morals; strictly desist from the harassment of people and inform your chiefs about those who harass common people.

26. During Jihadic operations, employ tactics that do not cause harm to life and property of the common countrymen. The instructions given to you for the protection of civilian losses are, on you, a religious obligation to observe. Any violation readily incurs loss in this world and in the world to come. Therefore, I urge you emphatically to be careful about the civilian losses and take this on yourselves as an explicit responsibility, disregard of what the enemy may be doing to flare up civilian casualties during battles.

[davidbfpo]

After this incident last week one wonders if Mullah Omar's orders on treating civilians are followed? I fully accept this is an IO contest.

From the BBC:

Seventeen civilians have been killed by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, reportedly for attending a party.
The bodies of two women and 15 men were found by the side of a road in the Kajaki district. They were either beheaded or had had their throats cut. Some showed signs of beatings or had gunshot wounds.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19388869

Hat tip to Circling the Lion's Den for finding that the Taliban has put forward a different explanation on its website. Spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi writes:

A secret music party was organised inside a remote house close to the wells in the desert between Roshanabad and Shah Karez areas of Musa Kala district, Helmand province because no-one can dare to do such a vile thing openly. Around 20 corrupt individuals participated in this event and boys dressed in women clothing were forced to dance. According to information gathered, the said group turned their guns on each other and killed each other around midnight after getting heavily drunk, becoming both the killers and the killed. The government spokesman of Helmand Province promptly and brazenly blamed Mujahideen for this infamous incident which Karzai and others blindly accepted. We once again call on all media outlets to refrain from attributing such reports to the Mujahideen.

Afghan boys being dressed up as girls to dance in front of drunken, gun-toting tribesmen? Makes perfect sense to me. File this one under black propaganda ops.

Link:http://circlingthelionsden.blogspot....n-helmand.html

[MSG Proctor]

Well, it may not be as the Taliban (very credibly) framed the story. This incident is not isolated. Support for the Taliban by the population is very, very low. It reminds me of the way AQ was operating in Anbar in 2006 - they simply went way, way too far with the violence, terror, tyranny, manipulation of Islam and the mosque leaders. This made cooperation with CF and the Baghdad government look attractive in comparison.

I've only been here a couple of weeks, but the feel is very similar.

Perhaps I am too optimistic or conflating insurgencies.

[Fuchs]

I get a feeling that the new American Way of War is to stay involved till OPFOR defeats itself.

[carl]

Originally Posted by Fuchs

I get a feeling that the new American Way of War is to stay involved till OPFOR defeats itself.

That made me laugh.

Americans are nothing if not practical (used to be anyway). "We may be miserable SOBs at times but they're worse." Not such a stirring call to action but whatever works.

[carl]

Here is a link to an AP story that says the beheadings resulted from a fight between two Taliban commanders over some women.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...?ESRC=dod_B.nl

Who knows if it is true but if it is, welcome to back to the 90s. Which is may be good in a way. Taliban & Co rose because the Afghans were sick of that stuff. Now this (if true) and MSG Proctor reports that the Afghans are sick of Taliban & Co. Maybe something else can rise up not so malign.

[MSG Proctor]

Carl, that dynamic is at work now, however hampered by two massive obstacles: lack of mass communication apparatus and 80% illiteracy rate here.

Our operators have to adjust to IO in a theater where print/broadcast media is not the main IO transmitter to the more realistic appraisal that Mosques are the real means of 'mass communication' here. Of course the Taliban knows this and leverages it deftly in the face of our sometimes clumsy and overly-secular approaches. Hence Mullah Omar's theologically appealing call to join the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" as the "real" government of this country.

The real difficulty here is our proclivity to hamstringing ourselves with arrogant insistence on framing all things in Western paradigms (religion and political life should be kept apart). Acknowledging the primacy of the Ulema councils, Mulawis, Mullahs, Mosques and Madrassas just wrankles the sensibility of some of our operators in palpable ways.

You would think such thinking would be obvious in a COIN operation in a country that self-identifies as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

[carl]

Originally Posted by MSG Proctor

Carl, that dynamic is at work now, however hampered by two massive obstacles: lack of mass communication apparatus and 80% illiteracy rate here.

If anything comes of that or seems to be coming of that, could you let us know? It would be very interesting to see who what and how as it is happening, if it happens.