“Our religions and our histories are different,” a Taliban commander tells The Times re: Iran. “But our target is the same — we both want to kill Americans.” To that end, “The Taliban fighters scurried up the craggy mountainside. As they neared the top, their 30-strong platoon split into three sections and they launched a ferocious assault on an enemy fort, opening fire from numerous positions. The bullets they sprayed at the fort’s mud-coloured walls were blank, however. They merely pretended to fire their rocket-propelled grenades. When they reached the desert at the foot of the mountain, they did not race away on motorbikes, but filed into sand-coloured tents to refresh themselves with tea and naan.” The Times has no doubts about the identity of the “hosts” for the Taliban training . . .
