
Despite soothing words, the Taliban are much as they were
CNN
How Taliban 2.0 will rule, two decades later, is far from clear -- but there are a few straws in the wind. And they suggest the Taliban see little need to change.
During five years in power until 2001, they banished women to their homes, banned music and most sport and imposed pitiless punishments on offenders. Adulterers were stoned in public; thieves had their hands amputated. Criminals were hanged for all to see.
Anything that didn't fit their austere interpretation of Sharia was a target. They blew up the centuries-old Buddhas of Bamiyan, because they saw art that depicted the human form as an affront to God.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.












