ALTHOUGH an admirer of Simon Jenkins – above all on Iraq – I totally disagree with his argument (Stop killing the Taliban – they offer the best hope of beating Al-Qaeda, Comment, last week).

It is based on several misconceptions, the first being that in the pre-9/11 period the Taliban were moving away from the “manic extremism” of their early days. On the contrary, whereas in 2000, Mullah Omar forbade damage to the great Buddha statues in Bamiyan since they were part of the national heritage, a year later – under pressure from extremists including, very possibly, Osama Bin Laden – he had them blown up.

At about the same time, the minister of culture led an assault on the Kabul museum during which he took a sledgehammer to the statue of King Kanishka. Far from being less extremist, most Afghans believed they were more so.

Jenkins argues that now the Taliban want “a share of power in Afghanistan”. Perhaps some junior commanders may, but not the leadership. Their aim, often stated, is to overthrow the Karzai government – it is only a few weeks since they tried to assassinate him in broad daylight – and force Nato and the US to leave.

Journalists who cover the war in the south, where the majority of Afghan villagers want to see the back of the Taliban, report the Americans are showing real progress in prosecuting effective “hearts and minds” policies; roads and schools built and compensation – even for Taliban destruction – paid on the nail. Their retraining of the army offers the best exit strategy.

The British ambassador may well be right that it will take 30 years to rebuild the country. Instead of grizzling we should honour our debts, give some real money to our armed forces and support them to get Afghanistan back on its feet.

Sandy Gall, Penshurst, Kent

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