#taliban

When you say things like, 'We have to wipe out the Taliban,' what does that mean? The Taliban is not a fixed number of people. The Taliban is an ideology that has sprung out of a history that, you know, America created anyway. ↗

— Arundhati Roy

#anyway #created #does #fixed #history

The path to a sustained victory in Afghanistan lies in improving their economy, creating jobs for the Afghanis, strengthening their government and national services, getting the provinces to trust each other and work together, and eliminating the opium trade. Previously, the United States' policy was to not get deeply involved in internal Afghani drug issues; now we've changed the policy and are actively working to eradicate the drugs. But nobody has yet to come up with a way to shut down the poppy fields and get the Afghani people back to work. Until that happens, the Taliban will inevitable creep back in. ↗

— Michael DeLong

#government #heroin #opium #policy #taliban

We don't see that the Taliban ultimately can succeed, and it's a combination both of what the international community can do to support Afghanistan, not just in the short term, but over the long term. ↗

— John R. Allen

#both #combination #community #international #international community

The Taliban and its backers bear the responsibility for the consequences of this outrageous act. ↗

— Amanullah Khan

#backers #bear #consequences #outrageous #responsibility

Thousands of civilians have lost their lives to terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, and thousands more will - because, unlike the Pakistani government, which has no coherent policy to deal with the radicals, the Taliban have one to deal with Pakistan and its citizens. ↗

— Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

#because #citizens #civilians #coherent #deal

Fighting the Taliban and the various radical organizations on the front lines is like adding a Band-Aid to a cut, it may stop the bleeding but unless you clean it with antiseptic, the germs stay and multiply. ↗

— Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

#bleeding #clean #cut #fighting #front

The young boys I speak with say to me: Why would I want to live in this world - where they rely on charity, dry pieces of bread and water, where they are subjected to harsh treatment, when they can be free and be the envy of their colleagues in the afterlife. They are only too eager to sign on the dotted line and join the ranks of the Taliban. ↗

— Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

#bread #charity #colleagues #dotted #dry

Winning in Afghanistan is having a country that is stable enough to ensure that there is no safe haven for Al Qaida or for a militant Taliban that welcomes Al Qaida. That's really the measure of success for the United States. ↗

— Leon Panetta

#al #country #enough #ensure #haven

Women and children were slaughtered by the Taliban. You are going to sit down and negotiate with these folks? They never lived up to an agreement. The Pakistanis tried in '08, the Russians tried it when they were there. George Bush tried it in '05. It has never worked. ↗

— Mike Rogers

#bush #children #down #folks #george

The United States finds itself with forces of reaction. Do I have to demonstrate this? The Taliban's annihilation of music and culture? The enslavement of women? ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#islam #islamism #jihad #music #taliban