Why We Should Never Trust The Taliban

Amrolah Saleh has formed an influential new opposition group that has denounced the plans of President Hamid Karzai and the West for a political settlement with the Taliban. Photo: MAJID SAEEDI

Afghanistan's Former Spy Chief: 'Never Trust The Taliban' -- The Telegraph

Amrullah Saleh, the urbane former head of Afghanistan's spy agency, tells Ben Farmer why it is wrong to talk to the Taliban.



He may no longer be Afghanistan's spymaster general, but in the new career he has moved into, Amrullah Saleh must retain many of the trappings from his former job.



Visitors to the Kabul home of the intelligence boss-turned-politician encounter checkpoints from at least a block away, while outside his villa, lean, purposeful guards from his native Panjshir Valley eye approaching strangers warily.



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My Comment: I concur with Amrullah Saleh's analysis, especially on who and what the Taliban are, and why people on the opposite side (like President Karzai and his allies) have failed in bringing stability to Afghanistan.

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Pictures Of Afghanistan Through An iPhone (Photo Gallery)

Left: Lance Cpl. Kevin Daly during a military operation near Doghaka village in Musa Qala district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Nov. 7, 2010. Right: Ali Mohammad, a 10-year-old refugee from Kandahar province, stands in front of his makeshift house in the Charahi Qambar refugee camp in Kabul on Feb. 27.

The War in Hipstamatic -- Foreign Policy

A rare and beautiful look at Afghanistan, through an iPhone.

It's been nearly 10 years since the U.S. war in Afghanistan began back in October 2001. Journalists and photographers flocked to Kabul and Tora Bora as the first bombs fell. The iPhone had not yet been invented; it would be another three years until anyone knew what Facebook was. Back then, Afghanistan was a war of necessity, a war of revenge. A decade later, Osama bin Laden -- the erstwhile target of the U.S. invasion -- is dead. The Taliban are dispersed; but still potent, still deadly. And we're almost five generations into the world's favorite smartphone.

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My Comment: More iphone photo galleries are the following ....

II. Heavy Metal
III. Female Engagement
IV. Outside the Wire

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