red baron wrote on Feb 16
th, 2012 at 8:56pm:
They are comparable to Year Zero in Cambodia and Pol Pot.
Like Pol Pol they are crazy religious zealots, the most dangerous kind of creature on this Earth.
If they were like the propaganda you try to spin on them, then why would they be preferred by the Afghan people?
There was no justice under Pol Pot. Yet the Taliban are known in Afghanistan for upholding justice:
...according to a secret Nato report seen by the BBC...
...the document says that in the last year there has been unprecedented interest, even from members of the Afghan government, in joining the Taliban cause.
It adds:
"Afghan civilians frequently prefer Taliban governance over the Afghan government, usually as a result of government corruption."
The report has evidence that the Taliban are purposely hastening Nato's withdrawal by deliberately reducing their attacks in some areas and then initiating a comprehensive hearts-and-minds campaign.
It says that
in areas where ISAF has withdrawn, Taliban influence has increased, often with little or no resistance from government security forces. And in many cases, with the active help of the Afghan police and army...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16821218
Taliban Courts Filling Justice Vacuum In Afghanistan
...many Afghans, especially in rural areas, turn to Taliban judges to settle grievances.
They say the militants — unlike the country's official court system — get things done quickly and without asking for bribes.
One "judge," Mullah Nasrat Ramani, waits in an abandoned schoolhouse overlooking the Pech River in eastern Afghanistan. Ramani, 35, has a trim, black beard, a wool cap on his head, windbreaker over his tunic and baggy pants — and looks like most Pashtuns living in the area...
...Ramani says he's an Islamic law graduate from Kabul University, and for the past three years or so, he's served as a Taliban judge in the area. He says he frequently goes to Korengal residents' homes to hold court sessions — that is, when he's not fighting American soldiers.
"We are mobile judges," Ramani says. "Sometimes we go to the people, and sometimes they come to us...we are sanctioned by the Taliban leadership to carry out justice using Islamic law."
Ramani says most of his recent cases were civil disputes. He heard one murder case a couple months back that ended in acquittal.
A half-hour's drive away in the city of Asadabad, taxi driver Habib Noor says he is grateful for judges like Ramani. He says many people in Kunar province go to the militants to get their grievances heard, even in dangerous areas like the Korengal, where U.S. forces clash with militants almost daily.
Noor says the problem with government courts is that they are too slow and corrupt. Whoever pays the biggest bribe wins the case, he says.
Such attitudes about the Afghan justice system are common. Experts say that in the seven years since the West has tried to rebuild the court system, it has developed into a complicated maze fraught with corruption.
Western and Afghan officials say that's partly because there's been too little time to build enough courthouses and create a new pool of legal professionals...
But critics of the system, like lawmaker Daud Sultanzai, say such excuses are wearing thin with the Afghan people.
"Most of the problems that we have in this country — and chief among them is this one — they are all here because of bad governance, because of no governance, because of lack of rule of law," Sultanzai says.
Sultanzai represents a volatile province south of Kabul. He says the justice system's weaknesses have played right into the hands of the Taliban. He explains that the militants quickly learned that the best way to gain popular support is to provide what the government can't.
So the Taliban assigned its own "governors" and "judges" to bring rule of law to people living in provinces where it has a strong presence, mostly in the south, east and west...
...Reached by cell phone, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid says it was at the people's request that the courts were created. He says the main goal was to solve land disputes created by long periods of war and foreign occupation.
Mujahid says the judges render verdicts based solely on Islamic law. He says all are religious madrassa or university graduates. Neither he, nor other Taliban officials interviewed, knows how many militant courts there are in Afghanistan. But they say that in provinces where the Taliban is active, every district has one...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98261034
Afghans missing Taliban justice
...Suicide bombings grab the world's attention, but here in Afghanistan's capital crime is the real threat to everyday life. Killings, kidnappings for ransom and robberies are all a bigger problem than insurgent activity. Mr Sabor was targeted because, as a money-changer, he always used to carry large amounts of cash home with him. That September evening he had the equivalent of Dh15,000 and his attackers took it all.
"We blame the government. There are no jobs for the people and that's why they are doing these crimes," he said. Although the insurgents are not behind this kind of violence, it is still becoming a very real threat to Mr Karzai's rule.
Today, nostalgia for the Taliban's method of justice is widespread simply because it is associated with an era of good security.
The former regime's hardline interpretation of sharia meant murderers were shot and thieves had their hands amputated in public ceremonies at the football stadium.
Even with a growing number of police and military checkpoints in Kabul, criminals appear to act with virtual impunity. This city, a western security analyst said, is effectively run by the mafia. Unnerved at the discontent that has resulted, Mr Karzai has vowed to act. About 120 convicts are on death row and this month seven were executed - the first killings in a year. Local English-language newspapers have praised the president's tougher stance. An editorial in The Kabul Times said: "If a kidnapper sees that [he] will be hanged he would never keep an innocent countryman in a dark, cold well." The Afghanistan Times said human rights organisations must understand that "harsh penalties" are needed.
Abdul Wahid, a butcher, echoed this sentiment when he fondly remembered how criminals used to be dealt with. "We liked the Taliban because they were very strict. If they caught a robber, they cut his hand off. Under this regime, if someone is a murderer he is arrested and put in jail through one door, then he will pay money and be allowed to leave from another door." Kidnappings among Afghans in Kabul have been common for a few years now. The victims range from children to businessmen and political figures. One of the only people who seems to believe security is fine in Kabul is Ali Shah Paktiawal, the top investigator of criminal cases here. In a manner that can be politely termed as brusque, he was quick to dismiss the concerns of residents.
...he said: "Everything is OK." Most Afghans would beg to differ. Indeed, the police and militia commanders linked to powerful officials are often accused of being responsible for much of the crime. Noor Mohammed, a taxi driver, said: "The government can do nothing; they don't have control. They brought in all these warlords and gave them positions, but ordinary people who have handed in their guns are just selling potatoes in the street."
In provinces across southern and eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban have set up their own justice system. Villagers turn to the insurgents, not the government, to solve everything from land disputes to criminal matters. The verdicts are delivered quickly and those found guilty are punished...http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/south-asia/afghans-missing-taliban-justice
The Afghan People Prefer To Live Under The Taliban
After a gang of bandits continuously terrorized the district of Porak last month, the villagers could not stand it any longer.
"We complained several times to the government and even showed them where the thieves lived," Ahmad, a local resident said.
But those bandits are still operating freely. So the resident of Porak began to turn to the Taliban to raise their complaints. In no time Taliban fighters showed up. They tried and convicted the gangsters and threatened harsher punishments should they be caught stealing again. The bandits have not showed up since then.
In the provinces around Kabul, the government are considered to be as almost non-existent or as having disappeared already, a local resident said. In this area the Taliban is more effective, the shadow government of Taliban have already spread and the local people are supporting them.
"So people turned to the Taliban," Abdel Qabir, who works with an international NGO, said...
...In areas under its control, Taliban has set governments complete with police chiefs and education and judicial committees.
"We prefer these courts to the government courts," says Fazel Wali, an NGO worker in Ghazni. He noted that Taliban courts have a reputation of working much faster than government ones, which are ridden with corruption.
"At least we have security and justice," contends Abdul Halim, a local in Ghazni province is a Taliban supporter...
http://www.infowars.com/the-afghan-people-prefer-to-live-under-the-taliban/
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