Manipal, India — There are indeed parallels
between the insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban. Both have brown complexions and
prefer to avoid a shave. Both get excitable when challenged, and regard the
United States and its military allies as the enemy. However, that is where the
similarities stop.
The Iraqi insurgents are overwhelmingly
nationalist, usually moderate in their religious views, and have taken to arms
to end what they view as a humiliating occupation of their country. In
contrast, the Taliban are Wahabbi extremists, who enforce a lifestyle that has
nothing in common with the evolving needs of the past 1,000 years. While the
Iraqi insurgents are more than 90 percent Sunni Muslims, the Taliban are nearly
all Pashtuns, although they have abandoned the moderate ethos and customs of
this admirable race in favor of an ultra-Wahabbist lifestyle that places a
premium on personal cruelty.
Once General David Petraeus, as U.S.
commanding general in Iraq, no longer tried to occupy territory and began a
process of handing responsibility to local forces, the anger at the occupation
began to dissipate, and so did the ferocity of the attacks on the United States
and its allies.
As yet, despite the radicalization caused
by the past five years, the insurgents in Iraq are not inclined to impose a
Taliban-like state in Iraq. Should U.S. troops withdraw completely within an
18-month timeframe, Sunni Iraq can yet be prevented from going the way of
Afghanistan and becoming extremist. Just as the Vietnamese ceased to be a
threat to the United States once they got control of their country, so will the
Iraqi insurgents, once U.S. and allied troops leave Iraqi territory.
