On a different perspective, signs of freedoms of the simple sort emerge in cities taken by the Northern Alliance.

In Mazar-e-Sharif, men lined up at barber shops to have their Taliban-mandated beards shaved off. Women were discarding the all-encompassing burqas and music -- banned by the Taliban -- could be heard coming from cassette players in shops, according to the Afghan Islamic Press.

Returning refugees streamed back into villages that they had not seen in months or years in a day of celebration across northern Afghan territory free from the Taliban.

Of course it remains to be seen how far this new era of liberation develops, but this is certainly a good start -- music and shaves!! Freedom of dress! Yippeee.

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