On Friday, Newsweek “We Are All Socialists Now” Magazine published an article entitled, “Taliban in Turmoil.”  In it they report:

Dissension has broken out in the top ranks of Afghanistan’s Taliban. The group has muddled along without an operational head since February, when Mullah Mohammed Omar’s second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan… But now a claimant to Baradar’s position has emerged—and at least some senior Taliban chiefs are seriously questioning whether he should have the job.

We reported this a full two weeks ago, but let’s not let that get in the way of our enjoyment of the Newsweek piece.

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Gone walkabout: Mullah Omar

The claimant is Mullah Gul Agha Akhund, “an in-law and long term confidant of Mullah Omar’s.”  Apparently, senior officials —including Omar’s top military commander, Abdul Qayum Zakir— are skeptical of Gul Agha’s claim to power.  What’s more, Gul Agha’s claim is sowing doubt and confusion throughout the Taliban’s ranks.

That can’t be good for the bad guys.

Newsweek goes on to say that there is yet another claimant named Mullah Mohammad Mansoor, (another fact we also reported two weeks ago).  In my report, I stated that Mansoor and Zakir have actually both been fighting for control.  But according to Newsweek, it looks now like we’ve got a three-way race.   The obvious question here, though, is why is there any race at all?

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Shouldn’t Mullah Omar be handling this?  Shouldn’t Omar speak out, quash the “turmoil,” and settle all of this?  One of these guys is his “in-law and long-term confidant” after all.

Hmmmmmmm, I wonder why no one has heard even a peep out of Omar.

If you’ve been following my writing, you already know the answer, but I’ll let the ace reporters at Newsweek nibble around the edges and hint at what we’ve been reporting here for the last three weeks.

Three Taliban sources tell NEWSWEEK they wish Mullah Omar would speak up and settle the leadership question before matters get any worse; with 30,000 U.S. reinforcements arriving on the battlefield, the Taliban desperately need a unified strategy… “No one really knows who is in charge.”

And the reason no one in the Taliban knows who’s in charge is because, as we exclusively reported on May 10th, Mullah Omar has been in Pakistani custody since March.

That information is 100% rock-solid and you can take it to the bank.