Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

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Afghan Warlord: ‘The West Must Give Us Our Weapons Back’

AAN < 1 min

Spiegel online, 25 September 2013

Interview by Christian Neef with Ismail Khan in Herat who provided a number of interesting quotes: that the Afghan army trained by the West will never be capable of ensuring the country's long-term security; that "the arrogant Americans drove the most important Taliban out of Kabul, bombed the rest from the air and then ended the war, gathered our tanks and artillery and took them to the scrap yards"; that he "didn't join this cabinet voluntarily. They forced me". Nevertheless, he called himself a "friend of the West" and "us" (the jihadi leaders) "the leaders of the people".

(Spiegel's German language print edition has a reportage by Neef from Herat which he had visited frequently.)