The Propagandist has been running a political podcast for a while now, interviewing authors, human rights advocates and assorted pundits about our favorite topics. Here are a few of our favorites from 2011:
Paklstan is the truest friend America ever had. Just a few examples to illustrate:
A large majority of Pakistanis (67 percent) believe that the USA is the number-one enemy of their country.
For several years at least, Pakistan harbored the world's most recognizable anti-American fugitive terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
Pakistani armed forces have fired on American helicopters and troops five times between September 2008 and May 17, 2011.
Pakistan almost routinely allows NATO supply convoys to be attacked by Islamist insurgents at strategic crossing points into Afghanistan by closing down alternative routes and neglecting their security responsibilities to secure safe passage.
The Pakistani intelligence services provide funding and intelligence to Taliban groups such as the Haqqani network, which targets American soldiers.
The Haqqani network that kills in Afghanistan and operates with impunity in Pakistan is not separate from the Taliban. It is not a creature of the CIA. And it remains the fountainhead of jihad, according to those cited by Terry Glavin:
For all the self-serving reasons you should expect, the thing known as "the Haqqani network" that is beginning to show up in the discourse of the capitulationist NATO capitals as a thing we are left with the impression is somehow separate from the phenomenon known as the "Taliban," is in fact no such thing. It is the very nexus of Talibanism.
The shorthand use of the term "Haqqani network" is instructive in the way the mere words we use oftentimes allow lies to creep into our conversations unnoticed. The term "Haqqani" comes not from a family name, like Gambino or Soprano, although to be fair to headline writers it is useful to employ it that way if only to provide readers with an immediate grasp of the network's nature and function. In fact, however, the name comes from a madrassa in Akora Khattak, Pakistan, known as Darul uloom Haqqania. Its headmaster and chancellor, Maulana Sami ul-Haq, is
No to Taliban thugs. No to Karzai's useless kleptocrats. If there is hope in Afghanistan, it comes to us through the legacy of the Lion of Panjshir:
“There are two extremes coming together. On this side, we believe in human rights, women’s rights, freedom, justice democracy. From that side, they are fundamentally against these values. They believe in an Islamic system, which doesn’t actually have anything to do with the teachings of Islam. If we reconcile, one side has to sacrifice its values, either this side or their side. President Karzai may want to sacrifice his values, but the people of Afghanistan will not accept that. Their side will never sacrifice its values either.”
How odd that this keeps happening, since the Taliban who have crossed over into Afghanistan have denied any efforts to recruit children as suicide bombers, like the 100 kids they were caught-red handed with just last month, after a twelve-year old boy prematurely blew up himself and his Taliban handlers.
It should be noted that the Taliban don't deny recruiting kids as bombers out of any moral conviction along the lines of "We believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way."
Apparently, just keeping them nearby was enough of a provocation for these lusty fellows:
"It's our policy not to recruit children - in order to prevent vice in our ranks because most Mujahedin are single men and spend a lot of their time away from their homes,
Iranian Currency Nearing Collapse. Ever wonder why theocratic kleptocracies seem to be able to avoid economic rules that apply to other countries? Turns out they can't.
The Propagandist is kicking in the door of despotism, clearing the room of political correctness and having a beer on the couch with its feet propped up on a hogtied Ratko Mladic.
We've seen some tactical victories on all fronts lately, but the war never ends. Here is roundup of some of our latest critical dispatches:
Justice Coming To The Balkans. But First We Need Answers. Like, how come it took 16 years to arrest this genocidal maniac living openly in a major European city?
They say "youth is wasted on the young." If you're a jihadist recruiter in Afghanistan's hinterland, you may not have George Bernard Shaw's original intent in mind, though.
The Talban rape tapes. "He arrived in each village with Siraj Haqqani’s uncle, Ibrahim, and Siraj’s cousin, Ishak, in tow. With them, the Haqqanis brought along their own very special tools of terror – a video camera and an eye for human flesh. You see, with Haqqani healthcare, you not only received a medical exam, if you were an attractive young girl, you also got a screen test. And heaven forbid you passed."
The Taliban's torturers. "Basically any form of pleasure was outlawed," Mr Hassani said, "and if we found people doing any of these things we would beat them with staves soaked in water - like a knife cutting through meat - until the room ran with their blood or their
Conveniently, the ISI seems to think the terrorist leader is on Pakistani soil, in or around Quetta, the largest city in Balochistan province (How nice of them to reveal the timing and location of this manhunt operation ahead of time, just to give their quarry a running head start).
If I were conspiratorial-minded, I might think the ISI had a sneaky plan ready to go.
First, wander over to Mullah Omar's address, which has actually been known to you for a number of years. Put a bullet through the old man's skull so he can't spill any secrets. Next, dump the body in the middle of a short but dramatic staged firefight just a few...More >>
At Jihadi High School, your teachers praise the glories of jihad and recall Afghanistan’s long history of resistance to foreign occupiers.
“I send my kid to get an Islamic education, and Hekmatyar gives me someone who wants to be a jihadi or a suicide bomber,” one puzzled parent reports.
The school he is referring to in the Shamshatoo refugee camp in Afghanistan is pumping out recruits for jihad. The students learn nothing about reading, writing and arithmetic and everything there is to know about the best way to murder an Infidel (whether that means NATO troops, Afghan security forces or just plain old uppity Afghan heathens who don't follow Taliban standards of piousness).
The camp and the school is wholly owned by the warlord fiefdom of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- otherwise known as the "Butcher of Kabul", and not because he has a talent for serving up fine roast beef. He is perhaps the most successful -- well, brutal -- brigand in Afghanistan, with ties to Pakistan's nefarious ISI, known for attacking aid convoys, coalition forces and his fellow muhajeddin with equal ferocity, whenever it suits...More >>
The Propagandist's Allies sally forth!
