Mullah Omar Statement

A lengthy statement released Monday, signed by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader, follows Obama's announcement in June that 10,000 American troops will leave this year. The U.S. 'drawdown' is part of an accelerated withdrawal by foreign troops ahead of a 2014 deadline for ostensibly transferring security to the Afghans.

"All these give us good news of an imminent victory and a bright future," Omar says. The statement was released on the eve of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan. Despite an often triumphal tone, the statement attempts to discredit a conference on the nation's future planned for December in Bonn, Germany, that could bring together representatives from about 90 countries and international organizations, the Afghan government and members of the insurgency. The event, like past conferences, is "superficial and hype-oriented," the statement says, calling it part of a U.S. effort to distract the public and prevent Afghans from solving their own problems. The statement's authenticity could not be verified, but it was sent to journalists from an email address used previously to disseminate Omar's statements. It also was posted on a website used by the Taliban. Monday's statement, if written by Omar, would be among his most comprehensive messages to date, analysts said, with less rhetoric in order to better appeal to Afghan moderates. "Its central aim was to characterize the struggle as a defense against outside invasion and to suggest that the Taliban could be a just and moderate political force," said Daniel Markey, a Washington-based senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. "Otherwise, the message was a rousing, nationalistic call to arms." Of particular note was the softer line toward the  Kabul government and suggestion that the Taliban doesn't seek to monopolize power, said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysis Network