Backbench Business — [3rd Allotted Day] — UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan

Part of Privilege – in the House of Commons at 1:27 pm on 9 September 2010.

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Photo of Paul Flynn Paul Flynn Labour, Newport West 1:27, 9 September 2010

Can we make something clear? The last speaker seemed to equate al-Qaeda with the Taliban. The Taliban have never threatened us, but al-Qaeda certainly has. If we want to understand Taliban thinking, we should note what was expressed recently by a commander. He said that war is dreadful and horrid:

"It creates nothing but widows and disruption. But jihad is different. It is our moral obligation to resist you foreigners. One year, a hundred years, a million years, ten million years-it is not important. We will never stop fighting. At Judgement Day, Allah will not ask, 'What did you do for your country?' He will ask, 'Did you fight for your religion?'"

That shows the precise nature of the conflict, and it is not a conflict that can be won.