Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (34212)	10/18/2001 8:33:20 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 82486

Actually agreement in this area, while perhaps unlikely, is more likely then when we are debating more abstract concepts like the nature of morality. Here we have concrete physical reality to deal with. The problem is getting enough information about the reality. Information in this area is somewhat scarce and perhaps sometimes biased. I suspect you are right that the extent the Taliban controls or controlled Afghanistan is exaggerated by many, but the areas they can't control are controlled by the Northern Alliance or by local warlords nominally under the Taliban but really controlling the land and the small army protecting it themselves. I think a great deal of the quoted 90% figure about Afghanistan being under Taliban control really refers to indirect control. These warlords where not for the most part defeated by the Taliban they switched alliances to go to who they thought had the upper hand. If any significant fraction from these local warlords supported Al-Qaida then I think the Taliban could not turn over Al-Qaida. Also if Al-Qaida had home grown support that they could mingle with and not be easily found I would also agree with you. But the information that I have suggest that Al-Qaida is mostly foreign to Afghanistan without a real base of support of its own. If you have information that suggests it does have such a base I would be very interested in reading it. To summarize I think that you are right about the Taliban not having full control over Afghanistan but I don't think Al-Qaida has a good base of support from which to resist the Taliban's wide spread but limited control. Tim