Taliban link diplomat’s death to ‘Afghan mission failure’

Afghan Taliban claim the US handling of the war had a "lethal dent" on Holbrooke's health.

KARACHI: A statement issued by the Afghan Taliban about US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke’s death on Tuesday draws a link to medical problems faced by Soviet leaders during the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan.

The statement, by the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ spokesperson, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, was posted on theunjustmedia.com website.

The statement reads: “Rumours have it that this giant of the American politics and diplomacy became ill with a heart disease when his previous fame and credibility came under question after the unremitting failures of the mission of Afghanistan and him facing the difficult task.”

It claims that the US handling of the Afghan war had a “lethal dent” on Holbrooke’s health and that he was “grappling with constant psychological stress”.

In the statement, the Afghan Taliban draw a parallel between Holbrooke’s death and medical issues reportedly faced by former Soviet Union leaders. “Former Soviet leaders Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko and Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov had heart attacks in a short time distance before the coming to scene of Michael Gorbachev.”

Given that the US plans to release its review of its Afghanistan policy, the Taliban believe “Holbrooke’s timely death could have a didactic effect on the American strategists, teaching them many things to learn.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2010.