BOOK REVIEW: My Life With The Taliban
Author: Abdul Salam Zaeef Translation by: Alex Strick Van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Published in Daily Times / Saturday, July 17, 2010 The Afghan Taliban’s claim to fame: obliterating 6th century monuments at Bamian, reactivating a medieval code of conduct and hosting the US’s most wanted man. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) has been lambasted for grooming this force of nature and further accused of aiding and abetting it after 2001, but if one founding member is to be believed, they have little to do with the set up. The Taliban were already in their gestation phase and simply moved in to fill the (moral) void left by outgoing invaders and incoming outlaws. This is the story of the singing, dancing mujahideen that evolved into a dreaded inquisition squad which ran Afghanistan for five years, as told by Mullah Zaeef — who was once a high profile member of the said squad. But he is ...