I’m not sure that Sharia being the law of the land is solely the fault of the Taliban. After all, as the world recently noticed, it’s in the Afghan Constitution. “Real bad news in Afghanistan: Taliban regains control of much of country, Pakistan,” from WND, with thanks to Cornelius:
The news comes in part from an interview with Hamid Mir, the only journalist to conduct face-to-face interviews with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri in the wake of 9-11.
Mir, who has just completed an extensive tour of both countries, says that Pakistanis in government vehicles are no longer permitted to enter Waziristan, Baluchistan, and other tribal areas without the permission of local Taliban commanders. Muslim men who wander into this area without beards are routinely cast into prison as apostates. Kafirs (non-Muslims) are assumed to be enemy agents; most are put to death. Women are only permitted to appear in public in full burqa. And Shariah has become the rule of the land with regular occurrences of stoning, crucifixion and decapitation.
Over 1,500 Pakistanis in recent months, according to Mir, have been publicly executed for saying something in support of the regime of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the coalition forces. Most were beheaded. The victims, Mir says, were “not ordinary people but very prominent people.”
Regarding the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mir contends that Afghan police are “weak”; that the coalition forces “limited in number”; and that the Pashtun people remain fiercely dedicated to Osama bin Laden and his jihad against the West.