Taliban claims French bribery ploy

[IndianaGreen]

What a FUBAR circus is Afghanistan turning out to be! Bring the troops home, NOW!

Taliban claims French bribery ploy (VIDEO at link-2:23)

French troops deployed in Afghanistan are attempting to bribe Taliban fighters not to attack them, a senior Taliban leader has told Al Jazeera.

In an exclusive interview, Saif-Allah Jalili, the Taliban commander of the Kabul district, said on Monday that his men have been offered gifts and money by the French soldiers in order to persuade the fighters not to engage their forces.

"The French in Sorubi (in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan) tried to send gifts to Taliban fighters and offered them a lot of money in return for not launching attacks targeting the French troops," Jalili said.

"But Taliban fighters replied by rejecting everything and by strongly demanding the departure of the French troops and all other troops from our country, which they invaded by force," he said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has denied Jalili's claims, saying they are Taliban propaganda.

In his interview, Jalili also claimed that local groups being armed by Western forces to confront his fighters were in fact handing over the weapons to the Taliban.

"There are many groups that work for the Taliban and also receive weapons from the foreign troops through the government," he said.

"They are supposed to fight us, but these groups fulfil their promise of loyalty by bringing the weapons to the Taliban," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/11/2009113013332806309.html

[applegrove]

1. This is psychological warfare in action. Ouch. I don't wanna know

what the Taliban thinks. They are too creepy in my mind to listen to.

[ProSense]

2. This is really desperate. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Strange days when some people put more faith in the Taliban

than Obama.

[LiberalFighter]

4. If I recall the Italian troops used this ploy effectively.

But forgot to tell their replacements.

[IndianaGreen]

5. UK troops advised to bribe Taliban

UK troops advised to bribe Taliban

ANI 19 November 2009, 01:17am IST

TEHRAN: British forces stationed in Afghanistan have been issued new guidelines, asking them to buy off potential Taliban recruits with "bags of gold."

According to a new field manual, army commanders have been asked to talk to insurgent leaders with "blood on their hands" in order to end the conflict in Afghanistan soon. Addressing the issue of paying off locals, the new manual states that commanders should give away enough money to dissuade them from joining the enemy.

The Times quoted Major-General Paul Newton, as saying: "The best weapons to counter insurgents don't shoot. In other words, use bags of gold in the short term to change the security dynamics. But you don't just chuck gold at them, this has to be done wisely."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/UK-troops-advised-to-bribe-Taliban/articleshow/5245271.cms