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A lot of people think they know who the Taliban are. They might say, "Well, they're a terrorist organization that works with al-Qaeda...they helped plan the 9/11 attacks with Osama bin Laden..."
Let's start at the beginning. Taliban (طالبان) means 'students' (note the plural)- inPashto, not in Arabic; (the singular, 'Talib', is taken from Arabic, but 'students' in Arabic is 'Tulaab'). Pashto is a much more localized language than Arabic, which mirrors the more regional focus of the Taliban, as opposed to the global network of al-Qaeda.
The name does not mean that they are ideological "students of Islam". It comes from the fact that the founders of the Taliban were students, raised in schools ('madrasahs') in Pakistan. During the Soviet invasion of the 1980s, many young Afghans fled over the border into Pakistan to seek refuge. Pakistan saw an opportunity to create a pro-Pakistan movement within Afghanistan, so the Pakistani Intelligence Services put these orphans in schools, before sending them back to Afghanistan equipped to fight the Soviets.
The Taliban were (and still are) a political movement, not an ideological one (like al-Qaeda). Religion is merely a tool for their politics, as it is for many political parties around the world. The intimate link to Pakistan is reflected today by the fact that the Taliban's most senior leadership - The Quetta Shura - is still based in Pakistan.
What do the Taliban want? Well, of course, they're with al-Qaeda in the global jihad thing, right? A desire for a worldwide caliphate based on fundamental Islam, right? Wrong.
Most people had not heard of the Taliban prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Why not? Because the Taliban were happily oppressing people in their own country without aspirations of taking over the world. Within Afghanistan, they burned books, banned music, and destroyed cultural icons. They opposed education for the masses because it would undermine their support. Note the irony of an organization called "Students" hating education.
It's important to understand why the Taliban wants to bring society 'back to the Stone Age,' so to speak. It is not because that's the kind of society the Taliban believes in. It's because the Taliban wants to "reset" society in order to rid it of un-Islamic influences. Then it would foster the development of a new society under purely Islamic values.
What about the Taliban's relationship with al-Qaeda? Some say Mullah Omar extended an invitation to Osama bin Laden when bin Laden was looking for a place to hide out. What is more likely is that Osama bin Laden asked for hospitality knowing full well that under the Taliban's tribal code (Pashtunwali), shelter would have to be extended. Because of honour, when someone (even the if it's the U.S. Government), asks a Pashtun to hand over his guest who has come to him for shelter, the Pashtun will defend his guest till the end. Even if he hates the guest.
Undoubtedly, bin Laden offered Mullah Omar some funding and resources to sweeten the deal, and so began a business partnership between al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
In many non-Western cultures, personal ties are simply how business gets done, and you don't even have to like the other person. In fact, the Taliban are increasingly frustrated with al-Qaeda's influence in Afghanistan. The Taliban want only local political power, not global jihad, and to do so they need popular support. Why else, for example, would they offer the local population a court system to resolve personal disputes in places where the government alternative is corrupt or non-existent? But al-Qaeda's violent presence, with a disregard for civilian casualties, is undermining the Taliban's public relations.
We forget that there were reports that the Taliban offered to give up Osama bin Laden to the United States after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan back in October 2001. This ought to speak to the tentative nature of the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Indeed, it is possible that Bush's refusal of this offer pushed the two organizations closer together.
Recently, Western governments have been talking about reconciliation and integrating moderate Taliban into jobs and the legitimate political process. The U.S. State Department released its "Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Stabilization Strategy" in January 2010, and the United Kingdom held "Afghanistan: the London Conference" around the same time. Diplomats, thankfully, do understand the difference between the two organizations, but much of the Western public does not. And public support of these strategies is required because of the investment involved. Without proper understanding of who the Taliban are, typical reactions to the idea of reconciling Taliban are, "Sure, that's a great idea!" expressed with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Diplomats and politicians are only now just starting to realize a mistake that was made back in 2001 after the Taliban government was toppled. The Taliban should either have been completely eradicated or else the moderate and willing Taliban should have been allowed to partake in the subsequent Bonn Process. It was the outright ex-communication by the West that forced the Taliban into insurgency and ignited the bloodiness of the past nine years.
If we are interested in installing some form of democracy in Afghanistan, then we actually have to work with the receptive elements within the Taliban. Whatever democracy is, suppressing a political voice and taking away the choice from the people does not sound very democratic.
If democracy is anything, it's working with people whose ideas you don't like.
Justin Rashid is a graduate student in the Masters of Public Diplomacy program.
.http://blogs.uscannenberg.org/neontommy/2010/03/know-your-taliban.html
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