May 05, 2012
Poetry of the Taliban: Giving Voice To Terrorists
It's bad enough the Taliban continue to operate freely, and raise funds, on the net. Now one will be able to read about the so-called softer side of the Taliban.
The "poetry" of the Taliban was translated and the book will be released on the 17th of this month. A former commander of the British forces is not too keen on this, which I wholeheartedly agree:
The UK publication this month of a book of translated Taliban poetry has been denounced as enemy propaganda by a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan.Just like us? Yeah, we go around killing our soldiers, hacking off peoples heads, throwing acid in the face of women, poisoning young girls who just want to read, teaching young kids how to behead with a "hands on" approach[caution], murder fellow Muslims, etc. etc. etc.The publishers have been accused of "giving voice to terrorists", but the book's editors argue that its 235 poems, including love poems, verses exulting in the Afghan landscape and patriotic ballads, provide a unique insight into the human side of the Taliban.
Alex Strick van Linschoten, one of the two editors of Poetry of the Taliban, which will be released on 17 May, said: "The poetry shows that the Taliban are people just like we are, with feeling, concerns, anxieties like ours."
He made a comparison with Heroes: 100 Poems from the New Generation of War Poets, a British anthology published last year. "Just as there is a soldier bidding farewell with his mother in a poem in Heroes, so there is a Talib saying goodbye to his mother before going off to fight. There is a universality to the experience."
Richard Kemp, the former commander, cautioned against "being taken in by a lot of self-justifying propaganda".
"What we need to remember is that these are fascist, murdering thugs who suppress women and kill people without mercy if they do not agree with them, and of course are killing our soldiers, Kemp said on Friday. "It doesn't do anything but give the oxygen of publicity to an extremist group which is the enemy of this country."[More...]
Yeah, just like us. I'm sure Hollywood would love to make a movie about this..
h/t Tarek Fatah
One "positive" review on Twitter:
"Poetry of the Taliban" denounced by some douchebag army man. Whatevs, I'm still getting my signed copy from @strickvl is.gd/UgyWFI
— Shaheryar Mirza (@mirza9) May 5, 2012
