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The Afghan government has alarmed human rights groups by approving a plan to reintroduce a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the body which the Taliban used to enforce its extreme religious doctrine.

The proposal, which came from the country's Ulema council of clerics, has been passed by the cabinet of President Hamid Karzai and will now go before the Afghan parliament.

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Why is the US puppet/client regime doing this?

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Western diplomats have reacted with unease to the proposal. However, several told The Independent that they believed the move was partly designed to defuse Taliban propaganda which accuses the Karzai government of being un-Islamic....

With the Taliban making considerable gains in the south the Karzai government has been keen to establish a more conservative Islamic profile and to appear more critical of Western military operations.

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story from The Independent

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. This time, it's with approved "Western" and Canadian backing so it's OK.

Human Rights Watch in Asia. There is "Lessons in Terror: Attacks on Education in Afghanistan," "Bombs and Threats Shut Down Schools," and a 142-page report outlining attacks on education since January of last year.

It is noteworthy that the current Afghan client/puppet regime has been placing new restrictions on the media, hiring known abusers as provincial police leaders, etc.. Things are getting worse with all the NATO "help".

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Originally posted by N.Beltov:
If Canada is supporting a regime that is looking more and more like a Taliban clone, why the hell are our troops there?

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Originally posted by Gir Draxon:

Good question... but I don't think the solution is to pull out. The solution is to do a better job of detalibanization.

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[ 17 July 2006: Message edited by: Frustrated Mess ]

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Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
It is important to remember the US was quite happy to do "business" with the Taliban. Like any group of gangsters, they are more interested in the pipeline whether the cargo is drugs or oil. In fact, an iron fisted Taliban is a preferred partner in the criminal enterprise of globalism.

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Originally posted by Gir Draxon:

So why did the USA go in an fight the Taliban in the first place?

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Because it was essential to appear to be taking action. Remember that the Taliban offered to hand over Bin Laden, and Bush refused.

Bush needed to be a man of action - all the news media and the US public (apparently) wanted to kill somebody for 911 - Afghanistan became the target.

No doubt there were other strategic motivations, but they were a bonus on top of the 'hit back' theme that dominated US politics in early 2002. 'Hit someone, anyone, for what they did to us!'.

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The cabinet of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a request by religious clerics to reinstate the notorious vice-and-virtue department despite protests from human-rights groups and female politicians.

During the Taliban era, members of the vice-and-virtue department patrolled the streets, beating and arresting men if their beards were too short and women if they were out without a male relative. They were also responsible for banning many sports, the taking of photographs, the playing of music and the education of girls.

It is stressed by Afghan officials that the new department -- which has yet to be approved by parliament --will be different from the old Taliban-era ministry and will instead employ appointed religious police going into mosques to rally against activities such as drinking, drug abuse and prostitution....

With the new incarnation, there are concerns that it could also be used to stifle any criticism of the Afghan government....

Nadar Nadery, spokesman for the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, said: "Under the draft constitution there is no need or room for a vice or virtue department. It is up to the police to punish people who do things wrong."

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