Before Afghan Vote, Old Ally Vexes U.S.

(CBS)  British soldiers and U.S. Marines are both battling the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Here, it's the British who are under attack deep in Helmand province, hemmed in by Taliban fighters, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan.

"The firing was coming about 400 meters northwest from compounds one and two," said one British soldier.

In areas like this where the Taliban is so strong, there is no possibility of voting in this week's presidential election.

Militants have used intimidation and threats to scare Afghans away from the polls: saying they'll cut off their ink-stained finger, the mark that voters will carry to prevent fraud.

In other parts of Helmand, U.S. Marines have been fighting to clear the Taliban out, in the hope some people here will be able to vote.

While the fight in the south is against the Taliban, in the northeast of Afghanistan the U.S. is battling an old ally: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Backed by the U.S., he helped defeat the Russians in Afghanistan; now he is trying to defeat the U.S.

CBS News was able to interview Hekmatyar through an intermediary who took our questions to him at a secret location. We found him as defiant as he was the last time we spoke to him a year ago.

"Our jihad and resistance will continue until such time that the last soldier of the occupying forces has left our country," Hekmatyar told CBS News.

He claims to have 25,000 fighters but no one is able to verify that number. What is not in doubt: U.S. troops in Hekmatyar's area have been facing an increasingly deadly enemy. An insurgent video shows a small U.S. outpost under sustained attack, and U.S. soldiers being airlifted to safety.

With the election now only three days away, neither Hekmatyar nor the Taliban has been able to stop enthusiastic campaigning across the country.

And in spite of the violence and threats, millions of Afghans are still expected to cast their ballots in Thursday's election.

[mysteriousjz]

What!!! Another boogeyman...... OBL was also a freedom fighter backed by the US. It seems to me that US is the number one enemy for itself. No people tolerate armed occupation of their people. "They" would NEVER accept any lifestyle, way of life, self-defined democracy and all of that being shoved down their throats by brutal and barbaric force. The more one uses force on them, the more agitated they get, of course naturally, and thus the never-ending cycle continues.

Stop the ceaseless quest for an enemy to destroy! Look no further, "you" will find it in the mirror.

[mljohns00]

I'd say the Afghans have already voted....

[quapawsix]

When are we going to get it these people do not want our style of government or even our life style, these people are conservative extremists. And their sole occupation for quit a few years has been handing the occupying Armies butt back to them and sending them packing home. I,m just questioning the motive here do we really need this country or is it all about the pipeline running through their country.

[ToolMangler1]

that is because we keep trying to not kill civillians.
WWII is the last time the USA "made war" on a country

[brianbwb-2009]

Ironic how those who supported the US foreign policy which not only installed Hekmatyar, but also created the Taliban to erase their sick blunder, now want to deride those they formerly supported.

During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Hekmatyar received millions of dollars from the CIA through the ISI. (that is Pakistan, for the history-challenged)Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin received some of the strongest support from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and worked with thousands of foreign mujahideen who came to Afghanistan

Hekmatyar's party never won a significant battle during the war, trained a variety of militant Islamists from around the world, and killed significant numbers of mujahideen from other parties, as well as tens of thousands of civilians. In addition to hundreds of millions of dollars of American aid, Hekmatyar also received the lion's share of aid from the Saudis.

More than a half billion dollars in US aid flowed through the ISI to Hekmatyar. Nervous CIA agents wondered whether Hekmatyar hated the United States as much as the Soviets, but the ISI assured them he was ok. United States money and weapons flowed to Hekmatyar for over a decade.

When Masud finally defeated Najibullah in 1992, all the mujahideen factions converged on Kabul. Masud outwitted Hekmatyar and slipped into the city before him. A round robin of side-swapping, backstabbing, and massacre among Hekmatyar, Masud, Dostum, and Mazari followed. In the beginning of 1993, at the urging of the CIA, Hekmatyar again was offered the seat of Prime Minister, and this time he accepted. He served as Prime Minister from March 1993, until January 1994. In early 1994, Hekmatyar, not satisfied with his power with the government aligned himself once again with Dostum to topple Rabbani's Islamic government; they failed. Nevertheless, the government of Afghanistan tried again to settle peacefully with Hekmatyar. His rocket attacks had almost completely destroyed Kabul, and the government was really weakening as a result of holding back Hekmatyar's aggression. At last, in June of 1996, Hekmatyar once again accepted the position of Prime Minister.

In late 1996, the Taliban, a militia created and funded by the CIA via Pakistan, for the purpose of "correcting their mistake" of backing a madman, overran Kabul and forced Rabbani and Hekmatyar to flee north. Most of Hekmatyar's men defected to the Taliban.

The sooner we get out of there, the better. Bush can take his Caspian sea pipelline and shove it.

To ToolMangler1

Oh Yeah? what then would you call Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, and Iraq, dinner parties?

Your Alzheimer's medicine is not working today.

[pete_in_az]

Its simple. Its called the .338 Lapua, and having handled the m98 for years I still stand in awe of it.

[ToolMangler1]

Sniping is so slow, I prefer a predator loaded with Hellfire missles

[the_majesty]

It time to stop playing with the Taliban.
We have the weapons to take them out.

[the_majesty]

It time to stop playing with the Taliban.
We have the weapons to take them out.

[pete_in_az]

I'd like if you did include yourself in we. Its frightening how much you have in common with the people you so demonize.

[ToolMangler1]

Pretty good at biting the hand that fed them, I guess that shows their intelligence because they had "Freedom" in their grasp and let the Taliban lie it away from them. If they don't grasp it this time then let the devils take them and blockade the country.