I thought he was a Kurdish leader.

A while back, I posted a link to a report stating that the Taliban was looking not so bad to Afghanis whose new liberation had become a rerun of the warlord-dominated recent history of Afghanistan. The article was pooh-poohed away here, because no one could imagine that the Taliban could have any support left in Afghanistan. One forgets that order, however odiously imposed, has a certain advantage over chaos and capriciousness for portions of the population. The warlords are scions of chaos and capriciousness. If the Americans and their allies are not the bringers of order, who does that leave to fill the role?

No follow-up on the military victory to establish any groundwork for a representative government outside of Kabul has led to a quagmire, all right: for the Afghanis.

Barzani is wise to fear a repeat of insufficient follow-up after the initial triumphal rush of military victory. He has seen it before, just recently, to the east.

Regards--
Mary Anne