Just been watching the news and they were discussing the US attack that killed civilians and how the Taliban are growing in strength and how the US wants Pakistan and Afghanistan to do more to "defeat the Taliban"
I don't know about you, but I don't believe the Taliban (or militant Islam in general) can be defeated with guns and bombs. The Taliban and their supporters are GROWING.
I know there are no simple solutions or answers.
But my own opinion is that those in Muslim countries (and the US and Europe etc...) who really want to "defeat the Taliban" should help, protect and encourage those groups, intellectuals and individuals who are critical of the traditionalists and of Islam itself. They need to encourage the debate about Islam - rather than suppress it and jail critics. They should protect ex-Muslims and those who want reform instead of persecuting and killing them.
It may seem obvious - but they are not doing it. On the contrary they supress those who criticise Islam and support hudood punishments on one hand while saying they want to "defeat the Taliban" on the other?
It's a contradiction?
Here's the deal
The taliban were for all intent and purposes effectively defeated in 2002 - the cadres and some tier-1 fighters escaped across the border into Baluchistan and FATA (which the Pakistanis couldnt do much about since these areas, especially FATA are not under Pakistani law).
Then, mistakes were made such as:
1. Funding and political support given to pro-western warlords responsible for massacres and rapes across Afghanistan
2. Alienation of the Pashtun majority by appointing contraversial Tajiks and Uzbeks to high posts (often warlords involved in drug trafficking and extortion)
3. Very little funding for reconstruction and development of the country, most of the money went to military expenditures, into the pockets of foreign contractors or was siphoned off by corrupt Afghan officials.
4. Appointment of Karzai, a corrupt politician whose own brother is quite possibly the biggest drug dealer in Afghanistan.
5. Widespread corruption where the average Afghan must pay a bribe for every government service, extortion on highways and at crossing points. Same with the court system.
6. Rising insecurity and banditry, often linked to law enforcement or warlords.
Result: The average uneducated Afghan starts to long for the days of the Taliban where security was much better and corruption much lower.
This is also why the Taliban were able to consolidate power quickly in 1996, the population had had enough of the bloodshed and insecurity brought on by the warlords (ex-mujahedin commanders).
There are of course other factors such as state funding (Pakistan for instance) but the "hearts and minds" of the Afghans, crucial to any counter-insurgency strategy, are slowly being lost.
Topic: "Defeating the Taliban"