Following is an exclusive Al-Jazeera TV report on the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, which aired on November 9, 2009.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2270.htm.
"This Withdrawal Enabled the Taliban Fighters to Completely Take Over These Three Districts, as Well as to Arrest Many Members of the Afghan Army and Police"
Anchor: "Taliban field commanders said that they plan to expand their operations to beyond the eastern province of Nuristan, which was evacuated by the U.S. forces last month."
Second anchor: "The U.S. forces justified their evacuation of the military base of Kamdesh by saying that the advent of winter required a new deployment in the region."
[...]
Reporter: "To a great extent, this withdrawal enabled the Taliban fighters to completely take over these three districts, as well as to arrest many members of the Afghan army and police, who were in these three districts, alongside the U.S. forces. One of the dangers stemming from the sudden U.S. withdrawal from this province is that it dealt a strong psychological and moral blow to the Afghan army and police, because of the claim that the Americans generally send the Afghans to battle and then abandon them when the going gets tough. This is precisely what happened in the province of Nuristan."
[...]
"[Americans] Claimed that They Turned The Bases Over To Local Authorities, But the Taliban Militants Say that they Entered Them the Day The U.S. Forces Left"
Reporter: "Al-Jazeera TV has managed to obtain exclusive footage of the seizure of these three districts...
