The Taliban in Afghanistan have declared they wish to free Turkestan, a small central Asian country that was absorbed into Russia a long time ago. Turkestan territory is actually a part of the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, which, along with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (and Pakistan and Iran), borders on Afghanistan. The Taliban specifically lust after a long fertile lowland territory that extends northward towards Kazakhstan. This valley, noted for hemp growing, would provide a good route north for the Taliban economic mainstay, opium exports to Europe.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with not a few moslem fanatic citizens, are nervously trying to be neutral. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia have declared Afghanistan the world center of terrorism and have just signed an anti-terrorist treaty. They will all provide military forces to the area and hold back the Taliban fanatics. In many cases this will result in moslem soldiers fighting against Islamic fanatics.
The Taliban are well financed and equipped and, in this mountainous terrain, very good at shooting down young soldiers with long range sniper rifles. I hope the U.S.A. will provide military aid, including satellite surveillance and intelligence, to these poor countries, and help them minimize the death toll of their young men.
Your newspapers don’t tell you everything that’s going on in the world.