Will the Taliban ever reform itself?

[Falcon29]

In your knowledge of Afghanistan and the events over the past decades, how likely is it that they will reform their organization?

And how much more effective would they be in Afghanistan? If they were open to reform within their organization and to be more effective with gaining their people's support.

 

[ShahidT]

they already have the people's support. its the only nationwide movement to get rid of foreign occupation. those against them are primarily warlords allied with karzai/US to protect their opium trade, who don't care about their own people whether americans raid their villages and kill infants.

but yes they need to prepare how to better handle the population when governing as last time they made some mistakes. i'm sure they have learnt from them. we'll find out soon though, once the natural equilibrium of afghanistan is restored.

 

[darkinsky]

the only way taliban has any minute chance of reforming it self(which seems unlikely) that talibans start obeying pakistan and iran through their influence(again very unlikely)

afghanistan's only saviour is the democratic government and supposedly afghan neighbours(pakistan, iran and china) suppoting afghan forces by training and equipment) and letting taliban come into the national circle by joining these forces and politics and through away their weapons

if talibans continue to be rag tag groups and they try to implement their own rule of law then afghanistan has no hope for future

any afghan hope is through development

 

[Falcon29]

the only way taliban has any minute chance of reforming it self(which seems unlikely) that talibans start obeying pakistan and iran through their influence(again very unlikely)

afghanistan's only saviour is the democratic government and supposedly afghan neighbours(pakistan, iran and china) suppoting afghan forces by training and equipment) and letting taliban come into the national circle by joining these forces and politics and through away their weapons

if talibans continue to be rag tag groups and they try to implement their own rule of law then afghanistan has no hope for future

any afghan hope is through development

While I wish afghanis on this forum can speak. I don't know if there are any. But yes, they should just allow people free will but also support them economically and try to gain all around support which can increase their chances of achieving their objectives but also a healthier Afghanistan.

they already have the people's support. its the only nationwide movement to get rid of foreign occupation. those against them are primarily warlords allied with karzai/US to protect their opium trade, who don't care about their own people whether americans raid their villages and kill infants.

but yes they need to prepare how to better handle the population when governing as last time they made some mistakes. i'm sure they have learnt from them. we'll find out soon though, once the natural equilibrium of afghanistan is restored.

Good points, but how will we find out soon? I think when it nears the US pullout time they will be included in peace talks and have negotiations on the future of Afghanistan. Of course after all that wasted time which led to so much poverty and civilian deaths.

 

[BeyondHeretic]

if they're really smart they'll reform now they've actually seen americans for themselves

 

[Raphael]

They don't need to reform themselves. They will, in all likelihood, seize control of the country after ISAF withdraws.

 

[Spring Onion]

Nobody reforms when it comes to interests and strategic benefits. Its just that actions change with change of priorities.

Once the same Taliban were US allies before this war. The mutual interest was indeed natural resources. If you remember the American company

 

[Brother Barry]

It's very unlikely for them to change, in any way. The Taliban believe they are simply implementing God's law, and have made it clear what it looks like: an Islamic emirate headed by the Commander of the Faithful, Mullah Omar, and ruled under Sharia. There is no place for innovation because that is not allowed in Islam, the Quran is set in stone. As for them becoming a political party, that won't happen since democracy is Haram.

The Taliban can afford being inflexible, since their leaders are hiding in Pakistan under the watchful eye of the Pak military. Their foot soldiers get shot to small pieces by Apaches, but they have a steady supply of Jihadis from the madrassas.

Edit: also, they will not stop fighting until they have captured all of Afghanistan. I believe peace talks are not useful. This is a battle of ideologies and will be fought until one side doesn't exist any more.

 

[JayAtl]

How can you reform an ideology based on the most backward interpretation of their religion?

 

[Controlled Pair]

How can you reform an ideology based on the most backward interpretation of their religion?

Indeed.

They see it as the word of God and any deviation from the word of god would be a sin.

They haven't evolved in centuries. No chance of that happening now.

Interesting to see Hazzy talking about the Taliban in this way, when he's supporter of Hamas who are similar to the Taliban and are getting more and more like them every passing day.

Now Hamas force men to have Islamic haircuts and grow beards. Hazzy approves of this, I've already asked him.

 

[Sedqal]

It's very unlikely for them to change, in any way. The Taliban believe they are simply implementing God's law, and have made it clear what it looks like: an Islamic emirate headed by the Commander of the Faithful, Mullah Omar, and ruled under Sharia. There is no place for innovation because that is not allowed in Islam, the Quran is set in stone. As for them becoming a political party, that won't happen since democracy is Haram.

The Taliban can afford being inflexible, since their leaders are hiding in Pakistan under the watchful eye of the Pak military. Their foot soldiers get shot to small pieces by Apaches, but they have a steady supply of Jihadis from the madrassas.

Edit: also, they will not stop fighting until they have captured all of Afghanistan. I believe peace talks are not useful. This is a battle of ideologies and will be fought until one side doesn't exist any more.

That is too simplistic a view. Taliban have great following in rural Pushtoon area of Afghanistan, in-fact most analysts treat Taliban as a Pushtoon phenomenon with Islamic leaning not an Islamic phenomenon with Pushtoon leaning.

And Talibans are not that dumb, what other means do you have to create cohesion among different tribes other then the slogan of Islam?

Indeed.

They see it as the word of God and any deviation from the word of god would be a sin.

They haven't evolved in centuries. No chance of that happening now.

Interesting to see Hazzy talking about the Taliban in this way, when he's supporter of Hamas who are similar to the Taliban and are getting more and more like them every passing day.

Now Hamas force men to have Islamic haircuts and grow beards. Hazzy approves of this, I've already asked him.

so sayeth Controlled Pair from the 'promised land' a promise made some 5,000 years ago

 

[Controlled Pair]

so sayeth Controlled Pair from the 'promised land' a promise made some 5,000 years ago

Promise - delivered.

Allahu Snackbar that!, mother f*cker

 

[Ayush]

REFORM?? they dont know any such word,forget about the meaning..

 

[Falcon29]

I don't really mean reform about their ideology, I meant their organization and actions. But the Indians and Israeli jumped on it like usual.

Promise - delivered.

Allahu Snackbar that!, mother f*cker

Get the hell out of here, you've become nothing but an slap happy annoying troll. Stop thinking you're welcomed here. Don't reply to my posts.

 

[gambit]

if they're really smart they'll reform now they've actually seen americans for themselves

You mean like this...

Afghan Women Fearful of U.S. Withdrawal

“Tell Mr. Obama not to leave us alone,” said Marjan, a 28-year-old political science student in Kabul. She spent five years at home—from the age of 12 until the Taliban was toppled in 2001, when she was 17. Under Taliban rule, women were forbidden from leaving their homes without a male companion. When Marjan turned 12, she could no longer leave her house without being noticed, so to protect her from being harassed by the Taliban, her family forced her to stay home for five years. “I have fair skin and bright eyes. I don’t look like a lot of Afghans. A Mullah asked my family for my hand in marriage when I was 13. He was 50. My family was repulsed. But most girls are doomed.” She was homeschooled by her parents, an opportunity not available to her friends with illiterate parents.

Marjan’s story is not unique. A large number of middle class Afghan women, who were teenagers during the Taliban era, are now attending universities in Kabul and other cities, taking advantage of the improved—albeit still much troubled—situation for women in Afghanistan. Regardless of their political learnings, their misgivings for the government of President Hamid Karzai, or their views on the use of drones in targeted killings in Afghanistan, the women with whom I have spoke could not hide their fear of a post-2014, post-ISAF withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Zina, a 24-year-old English language student in Kabul describes her fear clearly: “The Taliban will come back and I will have to stay home, or get married. My mother was beaten for talking to a man at the bakery. The Taliban will come back if the U.S. turns its back on us.”

What a sad state of affairs where the women of a country pleads for the presence of foreign men to protect them from the men of their own country.