During the travels of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior, he was accompanied by an American journalist.
Kabul, FARZAM KAZIMI — Sangar. Knowledgeable sources describe him as a figure connected to decision-making centers in the United States.
According to information obtained by Sangar from special sources in Kabul, the American who was seen by the media during the trips of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior, to Panjshir and Bamyan, is Martin Smith, a prominent American journalist and the author of the three-part documentary “America and the Taliban.”
“Washington has identified Haqqani as its main figure in Afghanistan, and this American journalist was hired to create a positive image of Haqqani within American decision-making circles,” a source within the Taliban’s intelligence structure in Kabul said.
Previously, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior and a leader of the Taliban-linked terrorist organization the Haqqani Network, visited the provinces of Panjshir and Bamyan, which are prominent centers of Tajik and Hazara representation in Afghan politics, and called on the population to promote unity and solidarity.
Afghanistan Green Trend, led by former First Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh, stated in a social media post that the United States government has been implementing a series of propaganda programs for the past three years under the title “America and the Taliban Project,” with prominent American journalist Martin Smith at the forefront.
“Haqqani’s visit to Panjshir is part of this very ‘America and the Taliban Project,’ and Martin Smith, who accompanies Haqqani during his trips to Panjshir and Bamyan, is responsible for this project. The primary audience for Sirajuddin Haqqani’s soft and conciliatory statements in Bamyan is precisely this project and Martin’s group accompanying him, rather than the people of Afghanistan,” the statement of the Green Movement of Afghanistan said.
The U.S. government has still not recognized the Taliban government and has not unfrozen its blocked reserves, which are estimated at approximately $8 billion. However, over the past five years, according to Afghan media reports, the United States has been transferring between $40 million and $90 million in cash every week to the Taliban, transported by aircraft from its bases in the Middle East. The use of cash is explained by the fact that Afghan banks are still not connected to the global SWIFT system.
The appearance of Martin Smith, an American journalist, during the travels of the leader of the terrorist organization the Haqqani Network now reveals another side of Washington’s cooperation with the Taliban, as well as another dimension of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. It shows that Washington has not left its position in Afghan politics vacant — and does not intend to do so.
Martin Smith is described in official biographies as an American producer, screenwriter, director, and correspondent who has produced dozens of documentary films for the national television networks CBS News, ABC News, and PBS Frontline. The subjects of his films range from the war in the Middle East to the 2008 financial crisis.
However, when it comes to Afghanistan — a country from which the United States literally fled — another aspect of his biography takes on particular significance: he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Overseas Press Club.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has been regarded since 1921 as one of the most influential private organizations in terms of its impact on the foreign policy of the United States. Among those involved in the organization’s establishment was Paul Warburg, an adviser and assistant to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, as well as a financier and theorist of the Federal Reserve System.
Prominent American and international figures and politicians have participated in the activities of this organization, including David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, brothers John and Allen Dulles, Madeleine Albright, George H. W. Bush, Robert Gates, and Condoleezza Rice.
The current president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Michael Froman, is Jewish. In his youth, he headed the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, one of the most influential Jewish organizations in the world, and during the presidency of Barack Obama, he served as the U.S. Trade Representative.
Martin Smith, the author and host of the documentary series “America and the Taliban” (America and the Taliban, 2023), produced for the FRONTLINE project of PBS, participates in the Council’s activities, unlike the politicians and bankers who run the organization, as a distinguished expert and investigative journalist.
CFR regularly invites him to its specialized meetings and open and closed roundtables, and also organizes special screenings of his films for the American diplomatic elite and Council members, including projects about Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and ISIS.
Now we will wait to see when his film about Sirajuddin Haqqani, after making its way through the halls of the Council on Foreign Relations, will be released. Two years ago, The New York Times, one of the media organizations supporting the Overseas Press Club, published an interview with the leader of the Haqqani Network.
At various periods, Martin Smith served on the Board of Directors of the Overseas Press Club — an organization established with the support of Bloomberg and Mercedes-Benz, whose patrons include leading international news agencies and newspapers such as The New York Times, Reuters, The Associated Press, and The Wall Street Journal.
