Taliban Overhaul Image, Distance Themselves From Al Qaeda

nytimes.com:

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban have embarked on a sophisticated information war, using modern media tools as well as some old-fashioned ones, to soften their image and win favor with local Afghans as they try to counter the Americans' new campaign to win Afghan hearts and minds.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[infidel2]

04:01 PM on 01/22/2010

When you read the word "taliban" or hear the word 'taliban" always remember that these are the brave men who throw acid in the faces of little schoolgirls......many more atrocities can be linked to them , but that visual should suffice.

[CigarGod]

04:27 PM on 01/22/2010

You forgot to mention: "these are the brave men" the ISI and CIA trained and funded.

[ManUTd1989]

05:59 PM on 01/22/2010

no, that was the Mujahadeen, and they were trained to fight the Soviets, not throw acid on children.

[Mike4Obama]

03:54 PM on 01/22/2010

They are running their first contestant in the Miss Afghanistan contest coming up as a show of goodwill.

http://www.1opossum.com/pictures/humor/osama/miss_afghanistan.jpg

[Oleg1]

03:41 PM on 01/22/2010

Form now on Talibs who spill acid in girls faces will say Salaam Alleikim first.

[CigarGod]

04:23 PM on 01/22/2010

Do you think tha from now on, the ISI and CIA who helped create the Taliban, might want to reconsider who they partner with(and train and fund)...to protect our freedoms?

[mommadona]

12:09 AM on 01/22/2010

According to Karzai, these dudes are the "cream of the crop" that he wants to skim off the top for 're-education' in his own image.

SHORTER Karzai: "It's just business"~Michael Corleone

[Oleg1]

03:42 PM on 01/22/2010

the cream of the crop goes to Europe. Via Checniya and Turkey. And ends up on the streets of Amsterdam and Vienna.

[riff4u]

09:37 PM on 01/21/2010

The American are certainly not winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by indiscriminate bombing of civilians. Let's see what the Taliban can offer.

[NCAV2]

09:15 PM on 01/21/2010

They can start by stop killing people.

[EnPointe]

08:22 PM on 01/21/2010

I just see Gary Larson's "Far Side" all over this. Oh, the images....

[mommadona]

04:59 PM on 01/21/2010

Cartman from South Park would be PERFECT Mr. Al Qaeda Personal Relations Dude sitting inna nicely appointed studio in the middle of Islamabad.....

[F4Phantom]

02:04 PM on 01/21/2010

Americans like to demonize the Taliban because they're pro-Sharia and oppress women.

What most fail to acknowledge is that the Taliban brought a SEMBLANCE of order to an utterly lawless land, where rape, robbery, and extortion made the life of the average Afghan sheer hell.

It was far WORSE than the Old West until the "Taliban sheriffs" rode into town and gave criminals gangs the choice of either A) working for them, or B) be killed.

Since the Afghan government has no effective power outside of Kabul, it is most likely the Taliban will again return to power. We can deal with them, or demonize them. What we will NEVER do is defeat them.

[totalliberal]

03:03 PM on 01/21/2010

Thank you for your ill-informed opinion Mien Fuhrer. "Vee must haff Order". (At any cost.) Didn't I hear that from someone in Germany once.

[salty07]

06:42 PM on 01/21/2010

The Taliban did get their start that way, but in many areas outside of the Pashtun south, they acted very much like foreign occupiers. They usually appointed Kandahari Pashtun in local leadership positions (doesn't play well in Mazar-I-Sharif, Kabul, or Herat). Once in control of an area, their "rule of law" was rather random and chaotic. Talib leaders were often guilty of the same kind of crimes they accused the Mujahed warlords of committing (pederasty, drug trafficking, extortion). Most Afghans didn't appreciate it for very long. You are not far off about the Afghan government, but there is some rule going on in each area, just usually by a local warlord or power broker of some sort.

[wadenelson1]

08:07 PM on 01/22/2010

Thank you for your very valuable insights.

You're obviously very knowledgeable on the subject. If you have any URLs, further reading you'd suggest for me, please pass 'em along.

Afghanistan is like peeling the onion, just when you think you have a decent grasp on what's going on, and went on there.....

[PresidentRobertBooth]

02:01 PM on 01/21/2010

The Taliban will soften their image by only lashing terrified women 20 times instead of 50.

[MrJoyboy]

01:49 PM on 01/21/2010

So instead cutting off heads completely, they will merely cut throats.

[Atcha]

01:49 PM on 01/21/2010

Thanks Talibs, I needed a laugh today

[YankeeCanuck]

01:44 PM on 01/21/2010

So, there will soon be a "Miss Taliban " pageant?

[CigarGod]

04:31 PM on 01/21/2010

LOL.
A stogie of your choice.

[MikeDu]

01:00 PM on 01/21/2010

People don't seem to realize this is GOOD news. I the same way reports of Taliban being payed bribes is GOOD news. It means they're amenable to reason. You can't reason with a religious nut, you CAN reason with somebody with mercenary motives. Eventually they'll realize beheading people and blowing up stuff hurts their bottom line. Think of this as the conflict between Spanish inquisition vs Dutch merchantilism in the 1500's. After much zealotry and bloodshed the merchants eventually won the day.

[salty07]

06:44 PM on 01/21/2010

You are correct, sir! If they continue down this route, and the Afghan government simultaneously becomes more effective, a point of negotiation may develop. It will take awhile, though.

[MarcusT]

12:47 PM on 01/21/2010

Hey, it worked for the Israelis for a long time.

[hemara]

01:04 PM on 01/21/2010

All good [sic] things must come to an end.