Peter Bergen: "This Is Not Your Father's Taliban"

This was a pleasant article and a pretty good overall generalization of the current state of Taliban affairs. I really is broad and does not take into account the many Taliban factions and local flavors: "Where once the Taliban had banned television, now they boast an active video propaganda operation named Ummat, which posts regular updates to the Web. They court the press and Taliban spokesmen are now available at any time of the day or night to discuss the latest developments." -This is a pleasant way of describing the that the Taliban are actively manipulating the media and press. Yes, they know about the effects of propaganda and are mastering it under their foreign educated AQ masters. Not to be confused with embracing freedom of speech and press. "The Taliban had banned poppy growing in 2000; now they kill government forces eradicating poppy fields" - this is probably one of the most successful lies of the Taliban. They have always used poppy cultivation to finance their brutality. Not many foreigners were roaming around the Afghan countryside in 2000. They did strictly control production with harsh punishment for those who grew, sold or used without their oversight. "The Taliban also offer something that you might find strange, which is rough and ready justice. The Afghan judicial system remains a joke, and so farmers and their families--the vast majority of the population-- looking to settle disputes about land, water and grazing rights can find a swift resolution of these problems in a Taliban court. As their influence extends, the Taliban has even set up their own parallel government, and appointed judges and officials in some areas. " - allow me to elaborate on this one. The local people have no choice but to accept Taliban justice or they are killed. It's simple. If you want to call that justice. Being mostly ethnic Pashtu's I doubt a Tajik or Herat will find swift justice. They will definately find death to be swift. In this part of the world justice is mostly local with a tribal flavor. There is of course Sharia Law but it's not applied everywhere and in every instance. "The Taliban’s rhetoric is now filled with references to Iraq and Palestine in a manner that mirrors bin Laden's public statements. They have also adopted the playbook of the Iraqi insurgency wholesale, embracing suicide bombers and IED attacks on US and NATO convoys. The Taliban only began deploying suicide attackers in large numbers after the success of such operations in Iraq had become obvious to all. For the first years after the fall of the Taliban suicide attacks were virtually unknown in Afghanistan, jumping to 17 in 2005 and 123 a year later. -Insurgents were using IED's and such in Afghanistan long before we invaded Iraq. It was in fact imported from Afghanistan with migrating AQ jihadi's and refined in Iraq. The Taliban were initially resistant to blowing up fellow muslims but that is long ago history now as they have embraced their AQ overlords ideas and tactics. "Just as suicide bombings in Iraq had had an enormous strategic impact—from pushing the United Nations out of the country to helping spark a civil war—such attacks also have made much of southern Afghanistan a no-go area for both foreigners and for any reconstruction efforts." - Suicide bombings in Iraq had an enormous strategic impact in that it brought about the defeat of AQ in Iraq and turned the tide in the struggle in favor of our initiatives. If we learned anything from suicide bombings it should be a tactic which is destined to ultimately fail as long as we persevere and don't quit. Suicide bombings were probably the single greatest contributing factor to the rejection of extremist elements in Iraq. There is no reason to believe that the civilian population of Afghanistan will not reach the same conclusions.