24 - 30 January 2002
Issue No.570
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 January 2002 Issue No.570 |
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The cruel reprieve
The bombs are no longer being dropped quite so mercilessly on Afghanistan but US resolve to continue the war against terrorism has not waned, reports Anayat Durrani from Washington and reports on the improbable case of the American who signed up for the Taliban, below
After three and a half taxing months, the war in Afghanistan appears to be winding down. The bombing campaign came to a virtual end last week. Nevertheless, the hunt for Al-Qa'eda leader Osama Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar pushes on.
The US Marines are gradually leaving the Kandahar airport base as the 101st airborne division takes over the defense of the base (photo: AP)
The United States' military strategy in Afghanistan is now focused on rounding up Taliban and Al Qa'eda men still at large. US forces are busily searching tunnels, cave complexes and compounds, aiming to uncover information and intelligence that, they say, will help prevent future terrorist attacks.
"Our goal is to prevent terrorist attacks on our country and people and our friends, allies and forces overseas," said US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on NBC's "Meet the Press" programme Sunday. "Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are not currently functioning effectively or leading their terrorist networks. They're being driven. They're running, they're hiding, and we're after them."
Bin Laden's and Omar's whereabouts remain a complete mystery, however. On Friday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he believed that Bin Laden has probably died of kidney problems. US officials say they have no evidence to suggest that Bin Laden is dead, however.
"He could be dead, he could be alive, he could be in Afghanistan, he could be somewhere else," Rumsfeld concluded. "We're looking for him, and I think we'll find him."
US officials have not ruled out the possibility that Bin Laden may no longer be in Afghanistan. More than 60 countries have been identified as having Al-Qa'eda- related terrorist cells. Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, Yemen, and the Philippines are the most frequently mentioned and are believed to have direct links to Bin Laden and Al-Qa'eda.
"There are a number of places that are speculated about. He has previously spent time in Sudan and Somalia. He has connections in Kashmir and in Chechnya. He first came from southern Saudi Arabia, near the Yemen border. So there are any number of possibilities," said Rumsfeld. "But I don't think there are a lot of places that would like to have him right now."
Over 600 US soldiers are set to be imminently deployed to the Philippines to begin "Balikatan" operations. These are "shoulder-to-shoulder" exercises with Philippine soldiers aimed at combating the Abu Sayyaf separatist group in the southern Philippines. According to the US, Abu Sayyaf has direct links to Al-Qa'eda. The group is currently holding 20 hostages, including an American missionary couple.
US forces will only engage in exercises, however, and will not launch direct operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group. "This is because the Philippine constitution does not allow foreign troops to conduct military operations within its borders," according to Rumsfeld. "Operations in the Philippines are part of the global effort to combat terrorism."
"The reality, though, is that the networks still exist around the world, and we know that, and we simply must deal with that. And fortunately, because of the wonderful cooperation we're getting around the world, an awful lot of people are helping. People are being arrested, people are being interrogated. Intelligence information is picking up," said Rumsfeld.
Meanwhile, 14 more detainees have arrived at the US Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Monday. They are the sixth plane load of captured Taliban and Al-Qa'eda followers to be flown over from the US base at Kandahar in Afghanistan. The detainees, wounded in the war, were carried off the plane on stretchers. The total number of suspected Al Qa'eda and Taliban members being detained at the base was 158 as of Monday.
The legal status and conditions of the prisoners has raised much controversy worldwide, particularly after the release of photographs by the US military that showed detainees in shackles and chains, wearing blackened goggles, face masks and earmuffs. International human rights groups are demanding that the detainees be given prisoner-of-war status with rights under the Geneva Conventions.
Meanwhile, international donors at a two-day conference in Tokyo have pledged more than $4.5 billion over five years and $1.8 billion in the first year to rebuild war-ravaged Afghanistan. The bulk of the funds will come from Japan, the US, the European Union and Saudi Arabia.
The United Nations and the World Bank have estimated that Afghan reconstruction will require $1.7 billion in the first year, $10 billion over five years and $15 billion over 10 years, according to The Associated Press. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that the United States will pledge $296 million this fiscal year as its first instalment to help Afghanistan, in addition to the $400 million in humanitarian assistance already committed to Afghanistan.
Powell's rhetoric seemed to reaffirm the US commitment to Afghanistan. On the first day of the conference in Tokyo, he addressed the assembled representatives of the international community and said, "President Bush has made it clear that the US will not abandon the people of Afghanistan."
The unlikely Taliban
Last week, the United States Justice Department decided what to do about John Walker Lindh, the so- called "American Taliban." Lindh, a US citizen who was captured fighting for the Taliban, has been held in US custody since early December. The US military is currently in the process of handing him over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).The 20-year-old Californian has been charged with four criminal counts and will be tried at the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Charges filed against Lindh include conspiracy to kill US nationals overseas and two counts of allegedly providing material support and resources to terrorist groups including Al-Qa'eda and Harkat-ul-Mujahidin. He was also charged with engaging in prohibited transactions with the Taliban. If convicted, Lindh could face life imprisonment.
"Lindh chose to embrace fanaticism, and his allegiance to those fanatics and terrorists never faltered, not even with the knowledge that they had murdered thousands of his countrymen," said US Attorney General John Ashcroft.
According to Ashcroft, the charges were "based on voluntary statements made by Walker himself." The Attorney General added that before being interviewed by the FBI, Lindh was read his legal rights but chose -- on his own and without coercion -- to waive those rights.
Ashcroft said that Lindh joined a paramilitary training camp operated by Kashmiri militant group Harkat-ul- Mujahidin in May 2001. Upon completion of his training, Lindh was given the choice to fight either in Kashmir or with the Taliban. He chose to join the Taliban in Afghanistan.
This eventually led to Lindh's involvement in the Al- Qa'eda network, with which he received seven more weeks of military training. His reward for this was a face-to-face meeting with Osama Bin Laden, who thanked him for taking part in jihad. Upon completing his spell at the Al-Qa'eda camp, Lindh chose to join the front lines to fight in Afghanistan, said Ashcroft.
Lindh also stated that he was aware of the 11 September attacks and that Bin Laden was behind the attacks, according to Ashcroft.
"Our complaint, based on Walker's own words, is very clear. The terrorists did not compel John Walker Lindh to join them; John Walker Lindh chose the terrorists," said Ashcroft.
The charges against Lindh do not carry the death penalty. Ashcroft, however, said that if additional evidence were uncovered, harsher charges could be filed against Lindh.
"We may never know why he turned his back on our country and our values, but we cannot ignore that he did. Youth is not absolution for treachery, and personal self-discovery is not an excuse to take up arms against one's country. Misdirected Americans cannot seek direction in murderous ideologies and expect to avoid the consequences," said Ashcroft.
Lindh made international headlines after his capture by US forces on 1 December following a prison riot in Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan. The riot had been ongoing since 25 November. CIA Officer Johnny Michael "Mike" Spann was killed during the uprising -- shortly after he interviewed Lindh at the prison.
Lindh's separated parents, Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker, released a statement in which they said they were "heartened" that their son would soon be returning home and thanked the US military for taking care of him. They expressed concern that their son was not allowed to receive any messages from his family, saying they were unsure if numerous letters to their son since 1 December had ever reached him. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) tried to deliver three letters sent by the family but were not allowed to do so, according to the statement.
"We now hope that we will see our son soon and give him the love and support he needs. We are grateful to live in a nation that presumes innocence and withholds judgment until all of the facts are presented, and we pray for a just resolution of this case," the statement said.
George C Harris, Lindh's family's lawyer, also released a statement in which he raised concern that Lindh had been interrogated for 45 days without the presence of an attorney. The statement also said that repeated attempts by Lindh's parents to contact him have gone unheeded and that Lindh may not be aware they have hired an attorney to represent him at all.
"We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that John has a fair trial. Towards that end, we request that government officials who have, for the past six weeks, been commenting on this case through press leaks and otherwise, cease their public speculation about this case, and respect the presumption of innocence and the fair procedures that our Constitution guarantees to all American citizens," said Harris.
Lindh is currently being held on the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea. Preparations are under way by the military to possibly transfer him from the US warship and hold him in Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is expected to return to the US in FBI custody in a week, according to CNN.
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