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Taliban military chief
vows to trap U.S.
in protracted guerrilla war
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Special to World Tribune.com
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT
Thursday, November 1, 2001
Taliban Commander-in-Chief Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani said in a published interview last week that the ruling Taliban militia will seek to trap the United States in a sustained guerrilla conflict.
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Mullah Jalaluddin Haqqani, was quoted on Oct. 20 as saying American soldiers are too soft for the rigors of ground combat in Afghanistan.
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Haqqani said in an interview published in the Urdu-language Islamabad newspaper that U.S. forces are "faint-hearted" and will not be able to fight on the difficult terrain in Afghanistan.
"The United States has not undertaken even the smallest developmental work in Afghanistan, nor has it any public supporters in the country," he said. "In this situation, the Americans would see nothing else than death in quagmire of Afghanistan."
The Pentagon has not ruled out the use of ground forces but U.S. officials have said they have no intention of getting caught in land war in the mountainous nation.
Haqqani said U.S. attacks to date had failed and that only about 25 Taliban soldiers were killed. ÒOnly one military helicopter and two passenger planes of the Ariana Airlines have been damaged while the rest of our planes and helicopters are safe,Ó he said. ÒNo prominent Taliban leader or commander has been killed in these attacks. Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden and other commanders are safe and performing their duties. This is because the American planes are dropping bombs from a very high altitude and they cannot dare to fly low.Ó
If opposition and U.S. forces succeed in ousting the Islamic regime in Kabul, Òthe Taliban would not lay down their arms,Ó Haqqani said. ÒRather, we would take to the mountains and launch a guerilla war.Ó
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