"The Taliban are one of the mujahideen ("holy warriors" or "freedom fighters") groups that formed during the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-89). After the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet-backed government lost ground to the mujahideen."

From the link supplied by Alice. It is incorrect, the Taliban as such never fought the Soviets, they were not formed until after the end of the Soviet occupation. They were formed in 1994 by Mullah Omar to fight the violence and corruption of the warlords of formed Mujahideen groups. They were never supplied, trained, or supported by the CIA and no evidence exists to substantiate any contention that they did.

For any who actually read the opening link, the schools that have been blown up and ordered closed are in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. The Taleban who have ordered these actions in Swat Province are not the "elected" Government and are formed by Taleban from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Oh, Q, "The British are leaving. In the meantime more Americans and Canadians will die in a hopeless cause. Canadians seem ready to pull out also.".

The British are leaving Iraq, they will shortly be increasing troop numbers in Afghanistan, our commitment to the UN mission in Afghanistan remains the same. The Canadians may well vote to end their participation that is entirely up to them. Personally I would hate to see them go they have done amazingly well, but that has come at one hell of a cost and I do not believe that anyone would compalin if they withdrew, when other NATO member states have not pulled their weight. The 2500 troops making up the Canadian contingent would most likely be replaced by US and UK troops.

Things in Afghanistan are a damn sight better now than they have ever been in the last thirty years, and they are continually improving.