The Taliban offer an unrelenting dedication to conquer Afghanistan, an unconstrained use of terror, and solidarity with important fragments of global Islam. The Taliban leverages deeply ingrained Afghan skepticism of Western promises for a better future. Foreign men have come and gone from Afghanistan, and, despite promises, only the poverty remains. Taliban leaders boast that Afghans are armed with religious fervor, honor, and resolve. “Such weapons are neither available in the arsenal of America nor in the warehouse of her allies.\" In January 2013, the Taliban crowed, “No sooner will the foreigners quit than the Afghans will start living under the cover of an Islamic government and in the environment of Islamic brotherhood.\"
\nPerhaps, but pro-government forces also have centers of gravity. Most Afghans fear the Taliban and remember the misery and brutality of its 6-year rule. The Taliban’s world is a phantasmagoria of savagery. Women are stoned for promiscuity, and men are beheaded for trivial offenses. Boys are raised to blow themselves up in bazaars, where other children and their mothers' shop. There is no music or television in Taliban territory, and no kites soar above the orchards and towns. There is a poverty of empathy and compassion.
\nThe American-led Coalition is determined to prevent the Taliban’s triumph. Today’s soldiers on both sides of the struggle have known only war. The sons of Taliban fighters, who were 10 when the group was scattered into Pakistan, are now in their early 20s. Many are hardened fighters and will undoubtedly face the sons of the Northern Alliance. The Taliban are tough, but so are many other Afghans.
","icons":[{"src":"https://deow9bq0xqvbj.cloudfront.net/image-logo/22084126/Taliban_MAR26_300x300.jpg","sizes":"300x300","type":"image/png"}]}