Communicating Arts - Main Web SiteFirst expressons explore; later ones distill.
The plain logic and antecedents to Afghanistan's Korean hostage ordeal could not be more clear. To a literal mind accustomed to tribute, "We have your people" should suffice for leverage in the return of their own. To another accustomed to abstraction, demanding a change of heart in lieu of trade may seem more appropriate.
No room exists for "give" in this now long stand-off between the Taliban and the Afghani government and assorted allies.
While it may be expedient for the Taliban to abandon the Korean hostages, too many versions and views of that may invoke dishonor as retreat may be interpreted as abandonment of their mission to free their own accompanied by a loss of will.
The position of state governments, ranging from refusing to play to virtual begging, derives from practical experience. For the Taliban, imprisonment relates to fortune and martyrdom in war, not punishment for crime, and any warriors released are bound to be again in the field producing civilian and military casualties.
In the Afghani theater, a successful kidnapping may turn out a curse or a blessing in disguise: on March 19, 2007, the Taliban released Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo in exchange for the following [2]:
- Ustad Yasir, cultural leader
- Mufti Latifullah Hakimi, spokesman
- Mansoor Ahmad, brother of Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah
- Hafiz Hamdullah, Taliban commander
- Abdul Ghaffar, Taliban commander
(The Taliban had beheaded Mastrogiacomo's driver during the journalist's captivity; afterward, it also assassinated Ajmal Naqshbandi, a fellow journalist kidnapped with Mastrogiacomo and who had provided him with in-country logistical, "fixer", and translating services).
The exchanged Taliban commander Abdul Ghaffar was killed May 3 in a coalition raid on Zerkoh in western Herat province [3].
Around May 13, 2007 with the death of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah [4] secured during a coalition raid in Helmand Province, Mansoor Ahmad, again, Dadullah's brother, ascended to the Taliban's top military post where he remains in power to this day.
Hafiz Hamdullah appears to have been for several years a provincial minister in Balochistan [5], a region southwest of Islamabad, Pakistan, and if so, he now bills as the "former provincial minister" when engaged with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) [6], a party strongly opposed to the Musharraf government [7].
Imprisoned from October 4, 2007 [8], Mufti Latifullah Hakimi had often produced the Taliban's claim for a bombing or other operation. Since his release, I have found nothing on the Googled top pages for the remainder of the spring and into this late mid-summer.
A similar Internet search for Ustad Yasir produced much the the same result. Where Hakimi had much press up to the day of his capture, Yasir seems to have had little or little converted to HTML.
The wrap on the Mastrogiacomo prisoner exchange: 1 commander dead; 1 returned to politics; 1 elevated to commander of all Taliban forces; 2 spokeseman disappeared from the Internet's notice.
A recent interview with commander Mansoor Dadullah spells out the Taliban goals bearing down on the want of negotiations over the Korean hostages [9].
1. "South Korea tells Taliban it has limited influence." Reuters, August 3, 2007.
2. "Taliban frees Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo." Newswatch India, March 19, 2007.
5. "Entire nation to prepare a joint strategy to cope with challenges: Owais Daily Independent 09-Jun-04." Balochistan Development Gateway.
6. "APDM drive against govt from Aug 9 cancelled." The Nation on Web, July 27, 2007.
7. "APDM not surprised by Musharraf-Benazir meeting in Abu Dhabi." AndhraNews.net, July 28, 2007. Note: the existence of the meeting referenced has been denied by the Pakistani government and seems to have a twilight presence on the web as either a now de facto secret meeting between opposed politicians or a fabrication and "plant" by Al Qaeda and Taliban propagandists.
Correspondence and Permissions: James S. Oppenheim
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