My Life With the Taliban

by Zaeef, Abdul Salam; Van Linschoten, Alex Strick; Kuehn, Felix

• ISBN13: 9780231701495
• ISBN10: 0231701497
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-30
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

My Life with the Talibanis the autobiography of Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former senior member of Afghanistan's Taliban and a principal actor in its domestic and foreign affairs. Translated for the first time from the Pashto, Zaeef's words share more than a personal history of an unusual life. They supply a counternarrative to standard accounts of Afghanistan since 1979. Zaeef shares his experiences as a poor youth in rural Kandahar. Both his parents died when he was young, and Russia's invasion in 1979 forced Zaeef to flee to Pakistan. In 1983, Zaeef joined the jihad against the Soviets, fighting alongside several major figures of the anti-Soviet resistance, including current Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. After the war, he returned to his quiet life in Helmand, but factional conflicts soon broke out, and Zaeef, disgusted by the ensuing lawlessness, joined with other former mujahidin to form the Taliban, which assumed power in 1994. Zaeef recounts his time with the organization, first as a civil servant and then as a minister who negotiated with foreign oil companies and Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the Afghani resistance. Zaeef served as ambassador to Pakistan at the time of 9/11, and his testimony sheds light on the "phoney war" that preceeded the U.S.-led intervention. In 2002, Zaeef was delivered to the American forces operating in Pakistan and spent four and a half years in prison, including several years in Guantanamo, before being released without trial or charge. His reflections offer a privileged look at the communities that form the bedrock of the Taliban and the forces that motivate men like Zaeef to fight. They also provide an illuminating perspective on life in Guantanamo.

Table of Contents

Kandahar: Portrait of a City	p. ix
Editors' Acknowledgements	p. xxv
Editors' Notes	p. xxvii
Character List	p. xxix
Foreword	p. xxxvii
Preface	p. xli
Maps	p. xlviii-xlix
Death at Home	p. 1
The Camps	p. 13
The Jihad	p. 21
Lessons from the ISI	p. 31
Bitter Pictures	p. 39
Withdrawal	p. 47
Taking Action	p. 57
The Beginning	p. 67
Administrative Rule	p. 81
Mines and Industries	p. 91
A Monumental Task	p. 101
Diplomatic Principles	p. 107
Growing Tensions	p. 123
The Osama Issue	p. 131
9/11 and its Aftermath	p. 141
A Hard Realisation	p. 157
Prisoner 306	p. 171
Guantánamo Bay	p. 187
Graveyard of the Living	p. 199
Getting Out	p. 211
No War to Win	p. 219
Epilogue: Afghanistan Today	p. 229
Notes	p. 245
Bibliography	p. 285
Chronology	p. 288
Glossary	p. 297
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 309
About the Author and Editors	p. 313
Index	p. 315
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