[immoceefe]

I read that a long time ago. This is the interesting bit:

The beginning of the Taliban’s activity in Afghanistan is shrouded in myth. Ahmed Rashid recounted what he deemed the most credible: Neighbors of two girls kidnapped and raped by Kandahar warlords asked the Taliban’s help in freeing the teenagers. The Taliban attacked a military camp, freed the girls, and executed the commander. Later, another squad of Taliban freed a young boy over whom two warlords were fighting for the right to sodomize. A Robin Hood myth grew up around Mullah Umar resulting in victimized Afghans increasingly appealing to the Taliban for help against local oppressors.(48)

And of course the appropriate War Nerd column:
http://www.exile.ru/2006-September-22/war_nerd.html


Phew. I have just singlehandedly tripled the quality of this thread.