Hekmatyar Could Expose -- As Well As Aid -- Al Qaeda

Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar says that his Hezb-i-Islami militia has joined al Qaeda and the remnants of the Taliban in a jihad to expel foreigners from Afghanistan. The United States views Hekmatyar as a threat to U.S. forces and to overall peace in Afghanistan; a formal link between these groups could intensify that threat. However, Hezb-i-Islami is better known and more public than al Qaeda and the Taliban, and it could serve unintentionally as a wedge with which the United States can strike at the heart of these other groups.