Afghanistan: Of Blasphemy and Suicide Bombers

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Many Afghans were sick of the war. Now the anti-Islam film has people all revved up against the Americans. Sami Yousafzai reports.

Sep 18, 2012 4:10 PM EDT

The Taliban can always count on the Americans. The insurgents are well aware that the people of Afghanistan sometimes get fed up with the war and tired of the guerrillas’ justifications for it. Nevertheless, says an Afghan who served as a cabinet minister in the Taliban government before the 2001 U.S. invasion, whenever doubts rise about whether the fight against the United States is really worth it, the Americans are sure to do something to reenergize the Taliban cause.

Witness the scurrilous caricature of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in the U.S.-made movie trailer that has incited riots across the Muslim world in recent days. “We had been having a bit of trouble lately in some areas trying to persuade people that the Americans are here to hurt, not help,” says the former minister, who is not authorized to speak to the press. “In some places Afghans had risen up against the Taliban.” But now, he says, “they have no justification” for siding with the U.S.-backed Kabul government. He credits the insulting film clip titled “Innocence of Muslims” with helping the insurgents turn the tide: “This blasphemy by the Americans didn’t leave much more for the Taliban to explain.”

That view is a result of direct experience, the former minister says. “Speaking very personally, sometimes I haven’t been so sure that this really was a war of non-Muslims against Muslims,” he says. “But now I am convinced: the ‘war on terror’ is part of the crusader war by the U.S. and other non-Muslim states.” Many other Afghans have been similarly converted, he adds. “Public sentiment among the Afghan people is at a dangerous level, and those in the Army and the police will react first.” He mentions an Afghan police officer who killed four Americans this past Sunday at a checkpoint in Zabul province. “He was clearly not our man,” the former minister says. “He became a Taliban overnight by listening to the radio news, and he reacted within five hours.”

Taliban members say the case was not unique. Muhammad Sarfida, a commander in Helmand province, tells of a meeting that was called by another provincial military leader, Mullah Naeem Akhund, immediately after Afghans first heard about the blasphemous film. He says by the time Mullah Naeem finished delivering a 10-minute speech, 20 civilians had volunteered to join his team of 10 Taliban fighters in attacking Camp Bastion, the joint U.S.-British airbase where Prince Harry is stationed. “Two of them were just young boys,” says Sarfida. “They finished their farm chores and went straight to avenge the Prophet Muhammad.” The attack killed two U.S. Marines and destroyed millions of dollars worth of military equipment. “If we could manage so many recruits, thousands of Afghans would join us under the slogan ‘revenge for Muhammad,’” says Sarfida.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/18/afghanistan-of-blasphemy-and-suicide-bombers.html