Taliban Magazine Condemns America but Praises Honda

Manufacturers are usually glad to hear positive reviews of their products, but we’ve got a feeling Honda is not happy about the ringing endorsement it received from the latest issue of the Taliban-published magazine “Azan“.

The English-language magazine is a pro-Jihadist quarterly; pure propaganda designed to recruit impressionable and disillusioned Muslims in the West. It’s somewhat jarring then to find buried within the radical rhetoric a full page spread on a 125cc Honda as one of the Taliban’s “Steeds of War”.

The spread features two men wearing keffiyehs and armed with AK-47 rifles and a RPG-7 grenade launcher astride what appears to be a Honda CG125. The graphic highlights different aspects of the motorcycle such as the engine guards which can double as mounting points for bags, or how a woolen blanket can be used to bundle ammo while also making the seat more comfortable. One odd modification is a mount on the left handlebar for an MP3 player so that a rider could listen to the Qur’an on long rides.

In the bottom corner is a red text box labelled “Did You Know?” with the following text (including spelling error):

“All Praise is due to Allah Who has made the Crusaders flee with a humilating defeat at the hands of the Mujahideen who have so little resources compared to them. We, the Mujahidin, have won the war with HONDA 125s valued at around $700.”

No doubt the PR department at Honda is horrified that one of the company’s products appears to be a vehicle of choice for the Taliban. At the same time, it’s not surprising the Taliban picked the CG125. The model has been around since 1975 as an inexpensive vehicle for developing markets.

[Source: Azan, The Telegraph]

By Dennis Chung