My Life with the Taliban

My Life with the Taliban PDF Author: Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN: 1849041520
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the autobiography of the former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan who negotiated with the US after 9/11 and spent time in Guantanomo. It is the first inside account of what motivates ordinary Afghans to join the Taliban.

My Life with the Taliban

My Life with the Taliban PDF Author: Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN: 1849041520
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the autobiography of the former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan who negotiated with the US after 9/11 and spent time in Guantanomo. It is the first inside account of what motivates ordinary Afghans to join the Taliban.

An Enemy We Created

An Enemy We Created PDF Author: Alex Strick van Linschoten
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199927316
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 549

Get Book Here

Book Description
To this day the belief is widespread that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are in many respects synonymous, that their ideology and objectives are closely intertwined and that they have made common cause against the West for decades. Yet this view have hardly ever been scrutinized or tested empirically. This is all the more surprising given that the West's present entanglement in Afghanistan is commonly predicated on the need to defeat the Taliban in order to forestall further terrorist attacks worldwide. There is thus an urgent need to re-examine the known facts of the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship and to tell the story of the Taliban's encounter with internationalist militant Islamism. In An Enemy We Created, Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn focus on the complexity of the relationship between the two groups and the individuals who established them. The book, which has already been cited prominently in The New Yorker, is the first to examine in detail the relationship from the Taliban's perspective based on Arabic, Dari and Pashtu sources, drawing on the authors many years of experience in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban s heartland. They also interviewed Taliban decision-makers, field commanders and ordinary fighters while immersing themselves in Kandahar s society. The story of those individuals who were to become the key decision-makers, and the relationships among all those involved from the mid-1990s onward, reveal how frequently the Taliban and al-Qaeda diverged rather than converged. An Enemy We Created concludes that there is room to engage the Taliban on two fundamental issues: renouncing al-Qaeda and guaranteeing that Afghanistan will not be a sanctuary for international terrorists. Yet the insurgency is changing, and it could soon be too late to find a political solution. The authors contend that certain aspects of the campaign in Afghanistan, especially night raids and attempts to fragment and decapitate the Taliban, are transforming the resistance, creating more opportunities for al-Qaeda and helping it to attain its objectives.

The Taliban Reader

The Taliban Reader PDF Author: Alex Strick van Linschoten
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190935057
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 768

Get Book Here

Book Description
Who are the Taliban? Are they a militant movement? Are they religious scholars? The fact that these and other questions are still raised with frequency is testimony to the way the movement has been studied, often at arm's length and with scant use of primary sources. The Taliban Reader forges a new path, bringing together an extensive range of largely unseen sources in a guide to the Afghan Islamist movement from a unique insider perspective. Ideal for students, journalists and scholars alike, this book is the result of an unprecedented, decade-long effort to encourage the emergence of participant-centered accounts of Afghan history. This ground-breaking collection, ranging from news articles and opinion pieces to online publications and poems transcribed by hand in the field, sets the stage for a recalibration of how we understand and study the Afghan Taliban. It challenges researchers to forge new norms in the documentation of conflict and provides insight into the future trajectory of political Islamism in South Asia and the Middle East.

The Taliban at War

The Taliban at War PDF Author: Antonio Giustozzi
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190092394
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 390

Get Book Here

Book Description
How fighting a sixteen-year-long war has affected the Taliban, by the world's leading expert on the movement.

The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan

The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan PDF Author: Robert D. Crews
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674030028
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 443

Get Book Here

Book Description
[This book] explores ... how has a seemingly anachronistic band of religious zealots managed to retain a tenacious foothold in the struggle for Afghanistan's future ... [It] investigates ... questions relating to the character of the Taliban, its evolution over time, and its capacity to affect the future of the region.--Dust jacket.

The Taliban Revival

The Taliban Revival PDF Author: Hassan Abbas
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300183690
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book Here

Book Description
In autumn 2001, U.S. and NATO troops were deployed to Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban rulers, repressive Islamic fundamentalists who had lent active support to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda jihadists. The NATO forces defeated and dismantled the Taliban government, scattering its remnants across the country. But despite a more than decade-long attempt to eradicate them, the Taliban endured—regrouping and reestablishing themselves as a significant insurgent movement. Gradually they have regained control of large portions of Afghanistan even as U.S. troops are preparing to depart from the region. In his authoritative and highly readable account, author Hassan Abbas examines how the Taliban not only survived but adapted to their situation in order to regain power and political advantage. Abbas traces the roots of religious extremism in the area and analyzes the Taliban’s support base within Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In addition, he explores the roles that Western policies and military decision making—not to mention corruption and incompetence in Kabul—have played in enabling the Taliban’s return to power.

In the Hands of the Taliban

In the Hands of the Taliban PDF Author: Yvonne Ridley
Publisher: Robson
ISBN: 1909396702
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book Description
Yvonne Ridley's terrifying 10 day detainment by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan struck a chord that continues to resonate around the world. At a time when the world was plunged into a state of unprecedented chaos and uncertainty following the terrorist atrocities in the US, Yvonne faced the ordeal of her life. Captured by the Taliban as she attempted to cross the Afghan border to report on the outbreak of war for the Sunday Express, Yvonne found her life hanging in the balance in the hands of the most reviled regime in the world. For Yvonne, an unexpected survival instinct kicked in that saw her face her captors not with fear, but with anger. Her courage and gutsiness, and that of her family, prompted the Taliban to release her, glad to be rid of such a so-called 'difficult' woman. This is Yvonne's full, true story. From her capture, to the ordeal she endured at the hands of the Taliban, to her eventual release; she offers a unique perspective into a way of life that remains a mystery to many. The friendships she formed with her fellow hostages, her feelings about her captors and their beliefs, and her discoveries -- many of which surprised and baffled her -- are all exclusively revealed in detail. Yvonne's story is a truly compelling and inspirational read.

Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban

Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban PDF Author: Syed Saleem Shahzad
Publisher: Pluto Press
ISBN: 9780745331027
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
President Obama may have delivered on his campaign promise to kill Osama bin Laden, but as an Al-Qaeda strategist, bin Laden has been dead for years. This book introduces and examines the new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders who have been behind the most recent attacks. Investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad dedicated his life to revealing the strategies and inner workings of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. He had access to top-level commanders in both movements, as well as within the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service. Shahzad’s work was praised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for "bringing to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan's stability." Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban explains the wider aims of both organizations and provides an essential analysis of major terrorist incidents, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In May 2011, Shahzad was abducted and killed in Pakistan, days after writing an article suggesting that insiders in the Pakistani navy had colluded with Al-Qaeda in an attack on a naval air station. This book is a testament to his fearless reporting and analytical rigor. It will provide readers worldwide with invaluable insights into the new phase of the ongoing struggle against terrorism which threatens to tear apart the fragile fabric of so many countries.

Taliban

Taliban PDF Author: James Fergusson
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 030682034X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Get Book Here

Book Description
From a small group of religious students formed in 1994, the Taliban quickly grew into a national movement that occupied all of Afghanistan. Led by the mysterious Mullah Omar, the group established a theocracy based on strict observance of Sharia law. When the Americans overthrew the Taliban in 2001, the United States thought the regime had been defeated. Yet today, nine years later, the Taliban continue to wage a bloody insurgency. In this extraordinary and compelling account of the rise, fall, and return of the Taliban, author James Fergusson, who has unique access to its shadowy leaders, presents the reality of themovement so often mischaracterized in the press. His surprising and, perhaps, uncomfortable conclusions about our current strategy in Afghanistan should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand this intractable conflict.

Kidnapped by the Taliban

Kidnapped by the Taliban PDF Author: Dilip Joseph
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0718011309
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book Here

Book Description
Being abducted and held captive by the Taliban isn't a tale many survive to tell. An American doctor shares the harrowing story about the four days he spent with his captors after being abducted on a humanitarian mission and his incredible rescue by SEAL Team Six. On December 5, 2012, American medical doctor Dilip Joseph and two colleagues are driving back to Kabul, Afghanistan, after serving villagers that morning at a rural clinic. Suddenly a man waving an AK-47 blocks their path. More armed men jump out of hiding. For Dilip, it is the beginning of a nightmare—he’s being kidnapped by the Taliban. Dilip recounts his story with chilling detail, transporting the reader to rural Afghanistan. “As we walk, I fear the worst—that when we reach the top, they will shoot us. God, however this is going to end, please don’t let them torture me to death. Let it be one shot and done.” Dilip and his friends endure a nine-hour march into the mountains, gruesome images of torture and death, and repeated threats of execution. After four days of uncertainty, gunfire announces the arrival of Navy SEAL Team Six, the elite group of soldiers that took down al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. SEAL team member Nicolas D. Checque loses his life in the rescue, as do the Taliban kidnappers. Yet this is more than a story of desperation, survival, and loss. It is also a tale of surprising connection, compassion, and inspiration. As Dilip begins to view the Taliban not as monsters but as men, both he and his captors are challenged to re-examine everything that matters: courage, sacrifice, hope, and faith. The book includes: First-hand account of a Taliban kidnapping survivor Insights into the Taliban's daily existence Insights into the sacrifices made by the American armed forces Includes a glossary and map of Afghanistan Kidnapped by the Taliban is a story of both terror and triumph. After reading this dramatic and inspiring account, you will never view Afghanistan or the Taliban in the same way again.