One practical problem that occurs to me about this Afghanistan business is that the Taleban introduced a new flag for Afghanistan. It's plain white. Now this could clearly involve some major problems - how are people supposed to indicate that they are surrendering?

Not just soldiers, civilians. There you are in a bombed out cellar, and you want to stick out something that will indicate that you aren't combatants. No good hanging out a sheet or waving a hanky on a stick is it?

And I can imagine troops thinking they've been tricked if they see a white flag outside a building, and then come under fire from it.