Reuters. 26 September 2001. Taliban Leader Says U.S. Cannot Defeat His Movement. WASHINGTON -- The leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Omar, said in a rare interview that the United States could not defeat his movement in its attempt to obtain Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden. "Even if it (the United States) were twice as strong, or twice that, it would not be strong enough to defeat us. We are confident that no one can harm us if God is with us," he told Voice of America in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. The State Department had tried to persuade the government-funded broadcaster not to give Mullah Omar time on the air, on the grounds that U.S. taxpayers should not help the Taliban leader propagate his views. But the Voice of America went ahead anyway, wrapping the interview into a background piece which also included the voices of President Bush, a spokesman for the Afghan Northern Alliance and Islam specialist John Esposito. The broadcast, which translated Mullah Omar's Pashto into English, included about 150 words spoken by the fundamentalist Taliban leader. VOA, paraphrasing Mullah Omar, said he refused to surrender bin Laden and was prepared to lead the Taliban in war. "This is not just an issue of Osama bin Laden. This is an issue of Islam, Islam throughout the world. Islam's prestige is at stake, so is Afghan tradition. Whether Afghans uphold their tradition and protect their honor is another issue," he said. He said the United States has subdued Muslim countries by putting pressure on their governments. "America controls the governments of the Islamic countries. America keeps after them until they do its bidding. But these governments are very distant from their own people. The people ask to follow Islam, but the governments do not listen. The people are powerless against their governments because they are in the grip of the United States," he said. In other extracts from the interview, as carried by The Washington Post last week, Mullah Omar said: "America has created the evil that is attacking it. The evil will not disappear even if I die and Osama dies and others die." "The United States should step back and review its policy. It should stop trying to impose its empire on the rest of the world, especially on Islamic countries." A State Department official said the Bush administration was dismayed that Voice of America did not follow its advice not to broadcast extracts from the interview. More than 100 VOA staff had protested the State Department's attempt to obstruct the interview, saying Mullah Omar's comments were legitimate news and should be broadcast. "Central to our democracy is freedom of the press. As America's voice to the world, the Voice of America has a duty to exemplify that basic principle," they said in a statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
