Following are excerpts from an interview with Taliban Military Commander Mullah Dadallah, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on March 2, 2007:

Mullah Dadallah: The America of today is not the America of the past, nor is the Taliban the same as it was in the past. Back then, five Taliban members were bombed, just because they congregated in a certain place. America has sunk so low that even the widows now want to participate in the war against it, and wish to defeat the U.S. The Taliban is no longer weak, as it was in the past. These days, the entire people supports Taliban. If the occupation controls one-quarter of each province, three-quarters of that province are under the control of the Taliban forces. In some regions, our forces are completely in control. Today, there are whole districts under the control of Taliban members. It is the Taliban that makes the decisions for the people, both in the center and the peripheries. Even in the cities, people turn to the Taliban for arbitration. The people cannot turn to the government, because the Taliban prevents this. This is real proof of the victory and success of the Taliban movement. Even if there are some people who do not belong to the Taliban, in whatever region, the people do not turn to them, either because they hate anybody who is not Taliban, or because the Taliban controls these regions.

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Next spring, we will bring shameful defeat upon the Jews and the Christians. The cries you are now hearing from them once a day – you will hear them 20 times a day. The number of countries abandoning America will be doubled, and countries will refrain from helping or allying with the U.S. America will remain alone. We pray to Allah that America will remain without an ally.

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Interviewer: Do you intend to control specific cities, such as Qandahar, Helmand, and Jalalabad?

Mullah Dadallah: Yes. Our target is these cities, as well as controlling the provinces. Some may that Helmand is not in our control, but, in fact, it is. The mujahideen control ten districts in the province of Helmand, such as Baghram, Baghnai, Kajakai, Taznai, Dusheh, and Khamshin. These are all under total Taliban control. In Helmand, there are only three places where the Americans are present – in the center, in Sangin, and in one of the Kajakai mountains. These three points are under their control, but we control all the other regions. In spring, Allah willing, all the provinces will fall into our hands.

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If a person wants to enter a village, he looks for the main entrance, and then begins to attack the outskirts. In my opinion, the entrance is Helmand, Oruzgan, and Qandahar. The mujahideen of each area will concentrate on their region, and mujahideen squads will deploy in the sensitive places. Of course, we will enter by means of war. In other places, the land will be on fire, scorching the feet of the enemy when he treads upon it.

Interviewer: Operations are currently being carried out against the Pakistani army in the tribal region of Pakistan. What do you say to the fighters who are attacking the Pakistani army in Pakistan?

Mullah Dadallah: The whole world is familiar with our theories, and knows that our war is not against everybody who is American or British, but against whoever stops us from fighting America and Britain, whether it is Pakistan or even our own people. Therefore, I call upon them not no to stop at that, but to stand alongside the infidels, if they wish to confront us. Our goal is not to fight Pakistan or anybody, but if Pakistan stands in the way of our goals, then, by all means – it will meet us in the battlefield.

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As for Iran, it has not adopted a Jihad policy in all its history. If you study history carefully, you will rarely find cases in which they fought the infidels. Perhaps I am not familiar with all the historical details, and perhaps the Iranians did fight in the past, but I know nothing about any aid they gave the Muslims. As for the Arab countries – their rulers are the lackeys of Britain and U.S.

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The Americans sent us invitations to negotiate. By Allah, it would not be manly of us to respond to those messages, while they are occupying our country, and while our women and men are detained in Cuba and Baghram, and while fire rages throughout our country.

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Sending such messages was a grave mistake of the Americans. As for reconciliation with the Americans – they should offer us such reconciliation only after withdrawing from here, returning to America, apologizing for the heinous crimes they committed against the Afghans, offering compensation to the Afghans, and publicly admitting their violations. Then we shall see whether we need their compensation, and only then we may pardon them. The confrontation has not yet ended. We may be able to avoid it, but we will have no contacts with them whatsoever. Reconciling with Karzai is one thing, and reconciling with the Americans is another. As I've said, there can be no reconciliation with the Americans, and if anybody reconciles with them, we will not let him live.

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We have close ties with the mujahideen in Iraq. The mujahideen spend a month in Iraq, for example, and then come here. Whenever the mujahideen get the opportunity, they go from here to Iraq, and vice versa. Any mujahid who wants to carry out an operation in Iraq can go.