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- Feb 16, 2016
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'Betrayed by Biden... But I fight on in the valley that's my nation's last hope': Afghanistan's vice-president Amrullah Saleh gives a brave dispatch while under siege from the Taliban in his snow-capped mountain stronghold
Ex-Afghan vice president slams Joe Biden amid Taliban resistance fight
In a courageous and moving dispatch from the frontline, Amrullah Saleh, 48, reveals his anger at Afghanistan's betrayal by America but urges the West not to abandon his beloved nation.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Amrullah Saleh, 48, is the former vice president of Afghanistan, who escaped Kabul as the Taliban advanced to join Ahmad Massoud and the National Resistance Front in the Panjshir Valley.
The remote, 70 mile long valley, bordered by high mountains, is a geographical stronghold and the last province in Afghanistan to hold out against the Taliban. After peace negotiations failed, battle has now been joined with each side claiming territorial gains and heavy casualties in the past 48 hours.
In a courageous and moving dispatch from the frontline, Saleh - whose leader, President Ashraf Ghani, fled Kabul for the UAE - reveals his anger at Afghanistan's betrayal by America but urges the West not to abandon his beloved nation.
Yesterday I attended the burial ceremony of two of the best commanders I ever knew who were killed last night.
The fighting here is heavy now, with casualties on both sides. The Taliban are using American munitions against us and Blackhawk helicopters are being flown in to reinforce their attacks.
~Snip~
Survival does not necessarily mean defending each and every inch of the territory. It means ensuring that the enemy will never gain control here.
We know we are not alone. Other Afghans are with us - in the nearby Andarab Valley, in parts of Kapisa Province, and in pockets in Parwan. And we have contacts all over the country, particularly in northern and central Afghanistan.
Many fighters are flocking here to join the National Resistance Front (NRF) - anti-Taliban fighters, former Afghan security forces and ordinary Afghans who want to stop us returning to the rule of the Taliban.
~Snip~
It is the Pakistanis who are in charge as effectively a colonial power. But this is not going to last because they and their clients will not be able to erect a functioning economy or create a civil service.
They may have territorial control, but as our history has shown, control of land does not necessarily mean control over the people or stability. And I do not see Taliban having any idea about governance.
The betrayal of Afghanistan by the West is colossal.
~Snip~
The Americans may boast about evacuating some 123,000 people from the country (of whom 6000 were Americans), but there are 40 million of us.
Now, with the closure of the airport in Kabul, the Afghan exodus is continuing at the other border crossings and it is worse than it was during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s.
This is not only shameful for President Biden, it is shameful for the whole of Western civilization.
Your politicians know that Pakistan is running the show.
They know al Qaeda is back in the streets of Kabul. And they know the Taliban have not reformed. They have been displaying their suicide vests in Kabul.
But there's still time for the West to save its reputation and credibility.
Biden was determined to end America's 'longest war' and would no longer countenance keeping even a few thousand soldiers in my country to support our own Afghan forces - despite our enormous sacrifices and the advice of his own generals.
~Snip~
When we reached Panjshir, we got a message that the elders of the community had gathered in the mosque. I spoke to them for an hour and afterwards each of them rose in support.
Panjshir has been a tourist destination for 20 years. We had no military equipment, no ammunition here.
But that night I drew up a strategy to toughen the province's defences.
Then I received a call informing me that Ahmed Massoud was heading to Panjshir by helicopter. I felt a surge of hope course through me. We had our first meeting to strategise that night.
Has it been easy to take up resistance? Absolutely not. I'm in a difficult situation, no doubt. I'm not made of steel I'm a human being. I have emotions. I'm aware that the Taliban want my head. But this is history. And we are in the centre of the history.
Comment:
Now there’s the person who should have been Afghanistan’s president not the cowardly chosen man. Amrullah Saleh is a brave honorable man that will receive no help from this president or the Progressive Marxist/DSA Democrat Left. They are the root of all evil and always have been.
The Bai Dung Regime wants the Taliban to win and are probably supplying intelligence and surveillance in addition to the equipment we have already given them.
Lara Logan is all over this story, Her Tweets have developed an ominous tone.