Nice little read: November 10, 2011
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Nice little read: November 10, 2011
Newsweek
November 10, 2011
New Kabul, Afghanistan -- At 46, the former terrorist is not so old, but there is a weariness, a cowed posture about him that makes him seem positively aged. As we sit shivering in the unheated hut he lives in, in the village outside the bombed-out rubble of the former Afghan capital, abject despair and hopelessness, exacerbated by crushing poverty, hang on him like a shroud. Once he arrogantly dreamed of bringing down the greatest power the earth has known; now his aspirations extend only to avoiding starvation by tending a few goats and living out his years in peace.
Every few minutes during our interview, he squints up through the many holes in the roof of his hut, looking to see if a flight of American warplanes will once again streak across the sky, raining down death. Officially, he has reason to look. He is the last surviving member of the group of 1,000 or so terrorists marked for death by the United States in the wake of the attack of September 11, 2001. Unofficially, he has little to fear. His organization and funding were long ago long eliminated. More importantly, events following September 11, 2001 made graphically clear that attacking the United States carries an unacceptable price. It's people's bloodlust finally sated, the American government allows the last terrorist to live, still under the death sentence, partly out of mercy and partly as an example to other would-be world-topplers.
Of course, it's mere chance that this interview is taking place in Afghanistan. The last survivor might as well live near the remains of Baghdad, Tehran, Tripoli or in the sea of glass formerly know as the Sudan. He resists questioning, becoming animated only when asked the obvious: "Why did you attack the American mainland when you surely knew what retribution would be rained on you and your countries?"
Stirring to something like anger, he replies: "How could we know? For years we had done as we pleased and the Americans had done little to stop us. We thought them cowards." Calming, he continued, "What we saw as cowardice we learned was actually patience and a love for peace. Too late, we realized that, once stirred, American fury has no limits." He glances furtively again at the sky. "We thought Allah would lead us to glory, but the American God was stronger."
November 10, 2011
New Kabul, Afghanistan -- At 46, the former terrorist is not so old, but there is a weariness, a cowed posture about him that makes him seem positively aged. As we sit shivering in the unheated hut he lives in, in the village outside the bombed-out rubble of the former Afghan capital, abject despair and hopelessness, exacerbated by crushing poverty, hang on him like a shroud. Once he arrogantly dreamed of bringing down the greatest power the earth has known; now his aspirations extend only to avoiding starvation by tending a few goats and living out his years in peace.
Every few minutes during our interview, he squints up through the many holes in the roof of his hut, looking to see if a flight of American warplanes will once again streak across the sky, raining down death. Officially, he has reason to look. He is the last surviving member of the group of 1,000 or so terrorists marked for death by the United States in the wake of the attack of September 11, 2001. Unofficially, he has little to fear. His organization and funding were long ago long eliminated. More importantly, events following September 11, 2001 made graphically clear that attacking the United States carries an unacceptable price. It's people's bloodlust finally sated, the American government allows the last terrorist to live, still under the death sentence, partly out of mercy and partly as an example to other would-be world-topplers.
Of course, it's mere chance that this interview is taking place in Afghanistan. The last survivor might as well live near the remains of Baghdad, Tehran, Tripoli or in the sea of glass formerly know as the Sudan. He resists questioning, becoming animated only when asked the obvious: "Why did you attack the American mainland when you surely knew what retribution would be rained on you and your countries?"
Stirring to something like anger, he replies: "How could we know? For years we had done as we pleased and the Americans had done little to stop us. We thought them cowards." Calming, he continued, "What we saw as cowardice we learned was actually patience and a love for peace. Too late, we realized that, once stirred, American fury has no limits." He glances furtively again at the sky. "We thought Allah would lead us to glory, but the American God was stronger."
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