My attention has been drawn to an amazing exchange of letters between an Australian academic and Abu Walid al Masri, the nom de guerre of an apparently Egyptian-born writer for the Taliban. I’m told that Al Masri is one of the more prolific and talented contributors to the official Taliban magazine, whose articles have to be vetted by leadership, and that he has also independently published his own book on war strategy and related issues. He is evidently one of the few jihadi writers with a sense of humor and self-awareness.

His correspondent is Leah Farrall, about whom I was previously unaware. Her blog biography discloses that she had been an intelligence analyst for the Australian federal police and is now completing her doctoral dissertation. Her exchange with al Masri is still developing, and we non-Arabic readers only have access to the first of the Taliban writer’s letters. Farrall promises to translate four more but says she is currently snowed under with edits of her dissertation. The photograph of Farrall on her blog—she is a blonde—seems to have attracted al Masri’s attention. This is from his initial letter to her:

In our minds are the horrible images of the beautiful female solders and their exercise on our brothers of a torture sport in Abu Ghraib. We don’t forget the image of the beautiful American, as she draws one of our brothers from his neck with a rope like a dog while he was naked and lying on the floor.

And another image of the same beauty with a sweet smile as she indicated with her finger a pile of our naked brothers’ bodies, while the beauty records a souvenir photo to show it to her grandchildren and feel proud of it.

Anyway, that won’t last long and a day will come in which the scales are turned and justice takes it course and the criminals are subjected to punishment[.]

Today another beauty is researching on a living person and they are a candidate to become the next victim. Therefore she gives to him advantages and talents that not even he or any of his grandparents possessed. He is a terrorist and strategist in everything…From war to the media and politics. What a introduction for a comfortable sitting on an electric chair.

I wish it was someone else who is going through this ordeal, but this is my fate.

So we become ready for an intellectual dialogue with the security beauty and the terrorist fighter, Mrs Farrall, we take a tour with her in the different field of terrorism. She wants a tour so she can get a more accurate knowledge of the enemy so she can target them in a better way. I want the dialogue to clarify the truths to our Arab public and to all the people of the world if possible. The experiences of our fight in Afghanistan against the Soviets was a world experience that affected the lives of all people, but was decisive for many of them. Therefore our Arab experience in Afghanistan, concerns every person on this planet.

It certainly does. We will wait for Ms. Farrall’s additional translations, then; the original Arabic is on her blog, if someone with the requisite skills wants to make a head start.