The defining characteristic of the Taliban is intolerance, Judah. Especially towards women as anything more than slaves.
The question is: Are the Taliban and the tribes synonymous? That's the lynchpin on which your argument hangs: That the Taliban lead the tribes. Not having been to Afghanistan personally, I can only base my views on what I've read about the situation. LRS Scout, who has been there personally, has a much clearer view of the power structure within the country. LRS, from your experience, how widespread are the Taliban among the tribes? Are they one faction that gained power (and is gaining power again) through strength of arms and intimidation, or is there really widespread support for them among the tribes? Judith On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 2:19 AM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: > > The "she" in question was a State Department employee, so certainly > not a normal civilian. She lived in a hooch and fell asleep in a > blackhawk in full body armor. And hell yes, conditions are horrible in > Afghanistan. Even in the liberated cities. Especially for women. I > never said otherwise. But that does not mean that there are not > moderate elements which is what Michael said and what I took umbrage > at. > > We need to establish internal security in Afghanistan through its > armed forces and central government. And that will involve (near term > at the very least) substantial cooperation from far flung tribes that > have elements that currently support the Taliban or have in the past. > These groups need a reason to support the central government and to > build a local power base off of something other than opium and beating > women to death. Those are the moderates and I hope that they will > follow through and grow more tolerant over time. But it is not a quick > easy thing. I've got no great illusions there about how rapid change > will come. There are some impressive gains but it is not clear that > they will be held. > > What I decry is that the notion that there are no moderate elements > and things are just what they are and won't change. That thinking is > defeatist and useful. We have opportunities and we need to take the > best advantage of them that we can. Denying that there might be > moderate elements of the Taliban is far from useful. > > Judah > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:291055 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
