>>510489969 (OP)We tolerated the "Bacha Bazi" traditions of our partnered Afghan forces, and the exploitation of opium flourished under our security, and the "Taliban" were also doing the same things to their young boys (Bacha Bazi), and were also securing the opium industry, which is inconsistent with the lore of the Taliban's founding where the reduction of agricultural exploitation of opium and ending Bacha Bazi were 2 key position that precipitated the Taliban's populist rise to power in the first place, as those were their largest grievances against the Mujahideen (warlords and warlordism).
My view of the whole conflict and our place there is one of cynicism and regret because all of that is the big picture. On the ground there was no view of that big picture but the on-the-ground experience verifies the hindsight view of the big picture, that opium production and Bachu Bazi are not just propaganda issues, that our involvement was at the very least enabling by providing security for what was, at face value, the conditions where a fully operational drug and human trafficking industry was expanding under our watch.
As far as my view of 'the enemy' now, there has been a notable reduction in opium cultivation, which is consistent with the original Taliban's stated positions. However Bacha Bazi is still being practiced, according to journalists, and while journalism is degraded to a point I don't put a lot of weight in its integrity there are no counter-reports or statements that the new Taliban is any more resolved to end Bacha Bazi than the warlords or our local Afghan partners (also warlords) were.
I think we did Afghanistan great harm by not allowing Mohammed Omar to finish his work. The new Taliban is better than our occupation (largely because we were partnered with and enabling warlord shitbags) but the new Taliban is not the original Taliban.
