With US and NATO commanders on the battlefield of Afghanistan calling for more troops, how best to defeat the Taliban is being hotly debated by Washington's policy-makers and their media pundits.

Yet, nowhere are the types of questions posed by Arundhati Roy (the acclaimed Indian novelist and social activist) on a recent visit to Pakistan to be heard in the mainstream US discourse. Clarifying the purpose of her trip during an address at the Karachi Press Club, she stated, "I'm here to understand what you mean when you say Taliban...Do you mean a militant? Do you mean an ideology? Exactly what is it that is being fought?"

The reason that such questions are not frequently addressed in the US mainstream seems patently clear. The answers require one to move beyond the atrocities of '9/11' and such pat ideas as the 'threat' posed the 'civilized world' by the Taliban/al-Qaida 'militant' and their 'ideology,' as well as the 'human rights' and 'anti-woman' abuses they perpetrate in their 'Muslim' homelands. In fact, Roy's questions require the respondent to first and foremost recall that precursors to the Taliban  - groups and leaders with similar ideologies and methods, including Usama bin Laden - were wholehearted supported by the US, with Saudi Arabian and Pakistani assistance, during the 1980's, when fighting the USSR and its Afghani ally, the Najibullah regime.

Of course, acknowledging that the Taliban-style 'militant' was an ally and his 'ideology' was considered an asset, not to be fought but nurtured and supported, is no great revelation. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged exactly this in an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee in late April, 2009.  She stated:

"Let's remember here... the people we are fighting today we funded them twenty years ago... and we did it because we were locked in a struggle with the Soviet Union. They invaded Afghanistan... and we did not want to see them control Central Asia and we went to work... and it was President Reagan in partnership with Congress led by Democrats who said you know what it sounds like a pretty good idea... let's deal with the ISI and the Pakistan military and let's go recruit these mujahideen. And great, let them come from Saudi Arabia and other countries, importing their Wahhabi brand of Islam so that we can go beat the Soviet Union. And guess what ... they (Soviets) retreated ... they lost billions of dollars and it led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. So there is a very strong argument which is... it wasn't a bad investment in terms of Soviet Union but let's be careful with what we sow... because we will harvest."

http://www.counterpunch.org/pirbhai10142009.html