Taliban target Afghans working with US

Washington Times:

The Taliban is seeking to blunt the surge of an additional 20,000 U.S. troops through stepped-up attacks on Afghans working with the U.S.-backed government, U.S. and Afghan officials say.

For much of the past year, the militant group has worked to weaken the link between the government and citizens through targeted assassinations of people who work for or with Afghan institutions. This wave of intimidation is an enormous obstacle to Afghan officials and local tribal council members trying to reach out to Afghan citizens, often in areas where the government has lacked a firm grip.

"It's becoming more difficult to recruit new people who are outspoken and willing to speak against the militants and violence, and for the government," said Ahmed Wali Karzai, who heads Kandahar's provincial council and is a brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "There's just no proper security in place."

A police chief and three of his officers in Jalrez district, west of Kabul, the Afghan capital, were the latest victims. They died Monday in a roadside bombing. U.S. forces who were deployed into the area earlier this year had helped to organize the local police force.

Taliban leaders have made it clear that Afghans with ties to the government or foreign troops, or who display any other forms of resistance to the militants, are liable to be assassinated.

"We have already warned people not to work for the government, not to spy for the foreigners, not to denounce our men," said Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman. "If they are going in the wrong direction and do not take care about what we tell them, we do not let them live."

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The religious bigots we are fighting tried this same tactic in Iraq. It backfired big time and helped bring about the Anbar awakening which spread the awakening movement across the country. In fact it points out why no one with a choice would ever live under their rule.