Taliban leader in Pakistan Swat Valley: Hey Osama, you’re welcome here
This is why so many of us have argued in recent years that even giving extremists one inch is likely to be a major mistake:
Pakistan was trying to end bloodshed when it let the idyllic Swat Valley fall under Islamic law last week. Instead, it has emboldened the Taliban and prompted an invitation — however improbable — for Osama bin Laden.
The local spokesman for the Taliban, which control the valley, told The Associated Press he’d welcome militants bent on battling U.S. troops and their Arab allies if they want to settle there.
“Osama can come here. Sure, like a brother they can stay anywhere they want,” Muslim Khan said in a two-hour interview Friday, his first with a foreign journalist since Islamic law was imposed. “Yes, we will help them and protect them.”
Whether or not the offer will be accepted is irrelevant in so far that we know that Muslim Khan is serious: history has taught us that the Taliban are more than willing to let Osama Bin Laden hide in regions under their control. That does not mean that both sides share the exact same goals or even the exact same basic philosophy, they do not, but they are natural allies – which is why it is so dangerous to let the Taliban take over any country, or even only a part of it.
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