January 23, 2010

It was inevitable. The Taliban, according to a piece in the Times this week, has been countering America’s “hearts-and-minds” campaign in Afghanistan and the Pakistan tribal areas by softening its hardline stance and reaching out in a comparatively more humane fashion. Call it a kindler, gentler Taliban. (This comes the same week that a senior Hamas official was said to have been seriously considering the recognition of the state of Israel and the abandonment of its charter, calling for Israel’s destruction. The report, from the Jerusalem Post, seems to have been, as Mark Twain might have called it, greatly exaggerated.)

What, exactly, would a kinder, gentler Taliban be? Allowing still photography but not videography? Lopping off only one hand for armed robbery, instead of two? Lopping off only the top half of the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas?