If the Taliban Are Not Responsible for 9-11, Then Why Are We Still Fighting Them?
- If the Taliban are not responsible for 9-11, then why are we still fighting them?
by Ramy Osman, http://www.muslims4liberty.org/
For it to be the longest war in American history, it’s difficult to explain what the Afghanistan War is really about. Just like in Iraq, the reasons used to justify this war have changed over the years because people are either too arrogant or too ignorant to admit a mistake. There really is no clear mission. And it will be virtually impossible for the US government to ever know when “victory” is achieved. An important question remains: Did any Taliban, or any Afghan for that matter, have anything to do with 9-11? The answer is a resounding ‘No’. The 9-11 attackers were Arab, mostly Saudis and Emiratis. The Taliban are Afghan, and have no ethnic relation to Arabs. The Taliban also played no role in 9-11, and were mostly unaware of what al Qaeda had planned from within the borders of Afghanistan.
–
Directly after 9-11, and in response to US demands, the Taliban did offer to give up Bin Laden on condition that America produces evidence showing his involvement in the attacks. They placed this condition because Bin Laden originally denied his involvement. They also distanced themselves from Bin Laden and urged that America investigate the 9-11attacks before it decides to bomb Afghanistan. The US government refused this offer because they had no evidence. Once Afghanistan was bombed, the Taliban then offered to give up Bin Laden unconditionally; where he would be handed over to the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) or another third-party. But again,the US refused. This refusal clearly shows that the US was never interested in Bin Laden. The target of America’s attack was the Taliban and their removal from power. This was despite the fact that the Taliban never attacked or even threatened America, or any other country for that matter.
–
It would be wrong to try to explain the Afghanistan War as part of the “war on terror”. Prior to the American invasion, the Taliban were never involved in international terrorism and never threatened a foreign country. To this day, the majority of Afghans don’t even know what 9-11 is. Afghans who are fighting American and NATO troops, do so because they view themselves as defending their country. A recent study which surveyed over a thousand villagers in war districts found that 92% percent of the males did not know about “this event which foreigners call 9-11”. We’re not talking about people in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. We are not talking about Afghan intelligentsia, professionals or university students. We are talking about people who make up 90% of Afghanistan, who live in rural villages and for the most part, have no connection to the outside world. When shown pictures of 9-11 with the exploding twin towers, some village elders even speculated that the pictures may be that of buildings in Kabul. This is their reality. It’s a reality that does not revolve around 9-11.
–
This is a difficult concept for many Americans to grasp: How can the people we’re attacking because of 9-11, not know what 9-11 is? How can they not know that over three thousand Americans were killed by non-Afghans over 11 years ago? Don’t they know that we’re defending ourselves by fighting people who never attacked us? Don’t they know that we’re the good guys?
–
If one breaks away from this delusional ignorance and develops a sense of reality, they might come to realize that the Taliban have simply been defending themselves against foreign invaders since the beginning of the war. Maybe this line of thinking will lead to accusations of being an enemy sympathizer or even a terrorist supporter. But it is yet to be seen: What qualifies the Taliban as our enemy, and what justifies the Afghanistan War as the longest war in American history? They governed Afghanistan for only 5 years and never threatened a foreign country. They were one of the poorest and weakest countries in the world, only to be attacked by the most powerful. They may have been violent and harsh to their own people, but they were never violent or harsh to anyone outside of their borders. If 9-11 is an illegitimate reason to justify fighting the Taliban and their Afghan allies, then nothing else can be used to justify the war..
–
read more!
end