Word: zaeef
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...parallel stories of Zakir and Zaeef embody the complexities that exist within the Taliban. Their shared religious fervor may explain why - despite NATO's intention to extend its massive assault on Marjah into a sweep through the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan - it may take years to militarily defeat the Taliban...
...Interviewed at his guarded home in Kabul, Zaeef says he never spoke to Zakir at Gitmo, because Zakir (identified as Prisoner No. 8) was kept in a different cell block. After a month of sleep deprivation ("The guards would force me to stand every time I tried to sit down," he says), the interrogations continued but the conditions of his confinement relaxed. Zaeef came to accept his captivity as a test from God. He memorized the Koran and brushed up on his English, which he now uses skillfully. He describes the Pakistanis, whom he says sold him to the Americans...
...Unlike other Taliban officials who defected after U.S.-led forces swept into Afghanistan, Zaeef still has credibility with Taliban fighters. He is said to be respected by Omar, whom he has known and fought alongside since he was a teenager in the 1980s, taking potshots at Soviet soldiers. Zaeef's views are said to reflect those of the Taliban leadership. As such, he may be poised to play a key role in any future peace talks between Karzai and the Taliban's governing council. And, according to Zaeef, there is room for maneuver. He insists that the Taliban...
...Pentagon policymakers insist that peace talks can't be held until the Taliban has been militarily weakened to the point where they no longer believe they can win the war. Nonsense, says Zaeef: "If America is honest about wanting peace, they should negotiate with us now." Washington, he says, is sending contradictory signals. "On one side, they say they want to talk, and yet they are sending more soldiers." And until U.S. intentions are clarified, he says, men like Zakir will keep on fighting...
...Even after his stretch in Gitmo, Zaeef finds Americans perplexing. He is considered a dangerous person, and is on a U.N. blacklist. But a few days back, he says, some U.S. diplomats arrived at his house in an armored SUV, carrying two copies of his latest book. "They wanted me to sign them," he says, laughing...