Al Qaida and the Taliban

The AJC is only a shell of the newspaper it used to be, but they do occasionally produce some highly useful informative articles. A recent one on the various health care options was a good example.

Today, there is a concise article explaining the differences in al Qaida and the Taliban, which I found very helpful. This is particularly important now, because Obama's new plan for Afghanistan will probably move away from fighting the Taliban and concentrate on al Qaida. I'll share the essence the article here:

Taliban is the Pashtun word for "students," because it began in the religious schools from which the original fighters were recruited. When the communist government collapsed in 1989 and Afghanistan was at the mercy of competing war lords, the Taliban arose to end the chaos and impose Islamic law. Their harsh control and draconian rules ended in 2001 when we attacked Afghanistan because they were harboring Bin Laden and al Qaida.

There has been some Taliban revival in recent years as an uprising against the unpopular Karzai government. But the Taliban's goal is supposedly limited to establishing control over their own nation according to Islamic law. They do not have ambitions to go outside Afghanistan or to attack us as long as we leave them alone.

In contrast, al Qaida was formed as a militant jihadist group to eradicate Western influence and establish sharia law across the Islamic world. They see us as a corrupting influence. They were responsible for planning and carrying out the 9/11 attacks. Osama bin Laden, from a wealthy Saudi family, was the primary financier and leader. Today, rather than a centrally controlled organization, it has become more of a "brand name" for militant terrorist groups throughout the world. There are probably only a small number of the core group still in Afghanistan and a larger number in Pakistan.

In summary: The Taliban wants to restore control its own nation, Afghanistan, without an agenda to to harm other countries. Al Qaida, in contrast, has a record of terrorist acts far beyond the borders of the Islamic world and the stated intent to continue.

The extent of ties between the two groups at the present time is debated. In our considering our next strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there are some who argue for allowing the Taliban to be assimilated into the Afghan political system, if they will give up violence. But there is no question that al Qaida continues to pose a threat to us.

Ralph