Taliban issues code of conduct

Taliban issues code of conduct

The Taliban in Afghanistan has issued a book laying down a code of conduct for its fighters.

Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the book, which further indicates that Mullah Omar, the movement's leader, wants to centralise its operations.

The book, with 13 chapters and 67 articles, lays out what one of the most secretive organisations in the world today, can and cannot do.

It talks of limiting suicide attacks, avoiding civilian casualties and winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the local civilian population.

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The utmost effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties," the book says.

There are now clear guidelines on how the Taliban will treat its prisoners as well.

"Whenever any official, soldier, contractor or worker of the slave government is captured, these prisoners cannot be attacked or harmed," it says.

"The decision on whether to seek a prisoner exchange or to release the prisoner with strong guarantees will be made by the provincial leader.

"Releasing prisoners in exchange for money is strictly prohibited."

The book further states that if a "military infidel" is captured, the decision on whether to kill, release or exchange the hostage is only to be made by the Imam, a reference to Mullah Omar, or deputy Imam.

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The release of the rule book comes less than a month before Afghans head to the polls for a presidential election, which the Taliban has deemed an illegitimate system imposed by foreigners.

The timing may be just a coincidence, however, as rival presidential candidates detail their manifestos and the Taliban makes an effort to win over the Afghan public.

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This could be on the one hand a propaganda ploy, after properly assessing their support and popularity levels throughout the Afghanistan. On the other hand, I do have a wild proposition. The centralization could be an attempt to reign in local factions that are only loosely Taliban allied. Even further, centralized control would, or could, be used as a bargaining strength in further negotiations with the central government in Kabul, and NATO. I question the resolve of the Taliban at this time. While Bin Laden and co. may see their struggle in terms of decades, the Taliban have certainly never seen it as some great millennial struggle.

sam_w said:

This could be on the one hand a propaganda ploy, after properly assessing their support and popularity levels throughout the Afghanistan. On the other hand, I do have a wild proposition. The centralization could be an attempt to reign in local factions that are only loosely Taliban allied. Even further, centralized control would, or could, be used as a bargaining strength in further negotiations with the central government in Kabul, and NATO. I question the resolve of the Taliban at this time. While Bin Laden and co. may see their struggle in terms of decades, the Taliban have certainly never seen it as some great millennial struggle.

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I think they are trying to legitimize themselves to the world by this propaganda. By adding a code of conduct (which they most certainly will not follow), they appear to be civilized and legitimate to would-be supporters.

TheNextEra said:

I think they are trying to legitimize themselves to the world by this propaganda. By adding a code of conduct (which they most certainly will not follow), they appear to be civilized and legitimate to would-be supporters.

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In this case, do you think then the Taliban might be acknowledging (to themselves) that they do not have a winning strategy? It does seem odd doesn't it the timing that this would come 8 years after, while they are under the midst of the largest NATO offensive.

sam_w said:

In this case, do you think then the Taliban might be acknowledging (to themselves) that they do not have a winning strategy? It does seem odd doesn't it the timing that this would come 8 years after, while they are under the midst of the largest NATO offensive.

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Actually I think they are just changing their strategy. That doesn't mean they don't think they can win, this just means they don't think they can win with the strategy they had been using.

IMO, this is a far better strategy for them to use because it is aimed at getting them support through legitimacy. The unfortunate part, is it may work for some of the people they are trying to gain support from.

I wonder if this is PR or if they mean any of what they say. I also wonder if the Taliban is centralized enough that any of the actual ground troops give two ****s about a code of conduct coming from the top

This propoganda/change of strategy, is targeted at two audiences, the Afghan people and the U.S. Unlike Al Qaeda, the Taliban have enjoyed good relations with the United States and have even visited former Governor George W. Bush. This is an attempt to regain the Afghan public trust and support, and to try to legitimize their existence to the U.S. so as not to be considered a terrorist organization. Remember, terrorist organizations are not to be negotiated with in anyway, if the Taliban is considered an actual military enemy, then they are protected by Geneva Convention and may in the future taken off the terror group list.

Ultimately, I do not think this ploy will work. It is desparate measures for a group that has been crushed and pursued in Pakistan, and is now being strongly crushed in Afghanistan with the increase of U.S. military presence.

Taliban is a beacon of morality for the entire of Mankind.

Apocalypse said:

Taliban is a beacon of morality for the entire of Mankind.

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I trust you said that with tongue in cheek. These are the people who gave safe haven to the terrorists who attacked us, and when in power, had draconian rules that made life totally miserable for women.

Apocalypse said:

Taliban is a beacon of morality for the entire of Mankind.

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Yes but fortunately most of their fighters are illiterate, so the rules need not be followed.

Birdzeye said:

I trust you said that with tongue in cheek. These are the people who gave safe haven to the terrorists who attacked us, and when in power, had draconian rules that made life totally miserable for women.

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Sarcasm, my dear friend.

Apocalypse said:

Sarcasm, my dear friend.

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Ah. Now I understand.

The Tallies appear to be adapting very well to the politics surrounding the fight against terrorism.

TheNextEra said:

I think they are trying to legitimize themselves to the world by this propaganda. By adding a code of conduct (which they most certainly will not follow), they appear to be civilized and legitimate to would-be supporters.

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It's very possible that it is much, much more than that. The US Army has a Counter-Insurgency manual that essentially says the same thing but instead of suicide attacks which the militant manual says to avoid, it warns against using overly-agressive tactics. This Taliban manual seems to basicallybe a manual on how to be an Islamist insurgent, and though maybe not as comprehensive, is comparable to books about guerilla warfare by Che and Mao Zedong.

Its especially scary because Hezbollah was able to stop columns of Israeli tanks 3 years ago...there is no reason that the Taliban also cannot develop proper tactics and acquire powerful weapons that can be used against a far superior foe, like NATO. The fact they are issuing a how-to manual on insurgency for an Islamist militant is very, very frightening.

They also captured an American soldier and issued a propaganda video that got huge coverage in the states... that's a textbook way to demoralize the popular support of a war. These assholes are getting as bad as the NVA.