Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Pakistani Taliban Emir By’atullah Mahsoud uttered those words recently in a TV interview. View the clip here.

Jihad Watch has the story up, here is an excerpt of that interview:

“We want to eradicate Britain and America, and to shatter the arrogance and tyranny of the infidels. We pray that Allah will enable us to destroy the White House, New York, and London…Our determination is great, and it is directly entirely against Britain and America. One of the miracles of jihad will be that sooner or later, we will destroy their countries.”

Interviewer: “Did you pledge allegiance to Mullah Omar?”

By’atullah Mahsoud: “We pledged allegiance to the Emir of the Believers in the past, and Allah willing, our allegiance to him will continue infinitely. He is our religious Emir, and our allegiance to him stems from the love and respect we have for him.”

The Emir of the Believers is a title of the Caliph — so apparently Mahsoud accepts Omar’s shaky claim to the caliphate.

“Musharraf is merely the slave of Bush, the West, and the infidels. Musharraf is subjugated to his masters. The Muslims in the tribal regions have suffered greatly at his hands, while our Arab and non-Arab brothers who have come here in order to defend Islam and the people, and in order to protect Pakistan - Musharraf has declared war against them, at the direct command of Bush. Some of them have been martyred, and others have been handed over to the Americans. All this did not satisfy Musharraf, who attacked the mosques, killing women, children, and youth inside. His motivation in doing this was to please Bush. We say that Musharraf persecuted the Muslims, demonstrated injustice towards them, and destroyed mosques.”

“All Muslims are brothers. The Taliban have the Emir of the Believers. He is not only the Emir of the Afghani people, but the Emir of the Believers throughout the world. We pledged allegiance to him, and we have the strongest ties with him. We consider Muslims - even in America - to be our brothers. With regard to Al-Qaeda, they are Muslims, and the Islamic zeal that runs in their veins is very rare. Al-Qaeda has fought heresy head-on, and confronted it with their weapons. They are our brothers, and Allah willing, we will remain brothers, and we will serve them, even if they ask us to sacrifice our heads for their sakes.”

“I Have the Utmost Love and Respect For [bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri], Because of their Enmity towards the Jews and the Christians”

Interviewer: “Have you ever had any connection with Al-Zarqawi, Al-Zahawiri, or bin Laden?”

By’atullah Mahsoud: “Before Al-Zarqawi left for Iraq, he was in our region with us. We had strong relations with him. After America began committing injustice in Iraq, he went over there, and he had an extraordinary role. With regard to Osama and Al-Zawahiri, I never met them, but I have the utmost love and respect for them, because of their enmity towards the Jews and the Christians. The Muslims must be harsh towards the infidels and compassionate among themselves. These two men reflect this Koranic verse. Their enmity towards the Jews and the Christians is strong, and therefore, I respect them.

“We want to eradicate Britain and America, and to shatter the arrogance and tyranny of the infidels. We pray that Allah will enable us to destroy the White House, New York, and London. We place our trust in Allah. Soon, we will witness the miracles of jihad. I myself have experienced many miracles. Every time I was determined to do something, I prayed to Allah, and he made it possible. Our jihad is defensive jihad. Our determination is great, and it is directly entirely against Britain and America. The soldiers of heresy who have come here to oppress the Muslims - we will respond to their injustice and tyranny. One of the miracles of jihad will be that sooner or later, we will destroy their countries.”