Afghans resisting Soviet invasion and occupation received backing from America. At the time, they were called 'freedom fighters,' and America's own CIA trained some of them - including bin Laden.

Then some of the 'freedom fighters' based in Kandahar took Kabul, and were supported by Pakistan, who decided it could use non-Pakistani 'freedom fighters' of its own in Kashmir. This gang that took over Kabul came to be known as the Taliban.

Former freedom fighter bin Laden got kicked out of the Sudan and rejoined his old friends in Kabul. In Kabul and Afghanistan in general, the Taliban has done both things. It has fought military and government targets - fighting the Soviets and also overthrowing Afghanistan's legitimate government. It has also committed terrible crimes against civilians in Afghanistan.

And, if we are to believe everything we're getting from the television these days, they are also responsible for a terrible crime perpetrated against civilians in Afghanistan.

Sometimes these black-and-white definitions, while convenient time-savers, fall short and the world fails to conform to them. The picture is a bit more complicated than the one shown on television.

That America gave support to these people, before they became the Taliban that installed itself in Kabul and after, also muddies the picture. That America has failed to restrict herself to military and government targets in past conflicts also makes things less simple. Does this make America a terrorist nation?