"When I Have a Beard I Can Join" - The Resurgence of the Taliban and the US Legacy in Afghanistan
The US legacy in Afghanistan appears to be fleeting and doomed to failure. Although the US invaded Afghanistan more than four years ago to clear out al Queda training camps and remove a safe haven for that organization, Afghanistan is clearly back on the road to "business as usual" a la falling back into Taliban hands. As the Taliban now sit safe in Pakistan due to a truce between local tribal war lords and the Pakistani government, Taliban fighters plot, train, and reimmerse themselves in death teachings in religious schools.
As it turns out, the Taliban is devoted to taking what they consider "their country" back, and the pity is that they will probably be able to do it. Part of their strategy is to find a safe haven, which they now have in the part of Pakistan adjoining their old stomping grounds, only now because it is part of a truce between uppity locals and the Pakistani government. This is a place where they can relax, rest, learn how to focus on targets so they can become better suicide bombers, and recruit and train new members. Taliban fighters also target secularized schools in Afghanistan and destroy them so the only teaching available will be in religious schools that preach a radicalized fundamentalist Islam. The Taliban, as well as anyone with a shred of sense, knows that open education is a threat to the Taliban culture because it exposes students to broader thinking and knowledge of the world and its complexities as opposed to the brutish black and white of Talibanic Islam. Sadly, children and youth in Pakistan idolize what they see as brave young men (i.e., Taliban fighters) and charismatic leaders who preach that the Taliban way is the best way. These ideas are furthered reinforced by teachings the young people receive in their religious schools. The mantra among these young people, even those as young as eleven is: "When I have a beard, I can join".
As it turns out, the Taliban is devoted to taking what they consider "their country" back, and the pity is that they will probably be able to do it. Part of their strategy is to find a safe haven, which they now have in the part of Pakistan adjoining their old stomping grounds, only now because it is part of a truce between uppity locals and the Pakistani government. This is a place where they can relax, rest, learn how to focus on targets so they can become better suicide bombers, and recruit and train new members. Taliban fighters also target secularized schools in Afghanistan and destroy them so the only teaching available will be in religious schools that preach a radicalized fundamentalist Islam. The Taliban, as well as anyone with a shred of sense, knows that open education is a threat to the Taliban culture because it exposes students to broader thinking and knowledge of the world and its complexities as opposed to the brutish black and white of Talibanic Islam. Sadly, children and youth in Pakistan idolize what they see as brave young men (i.e., Taliban fighters) and charismatic leaders who preach that the Taliban way is the best way. These ideas are furthered reinforced by teachings the young people receive in their religious schools. The mantra among these young people, even those as young as eleven is: "When I have a beard, I can join".
