Here’s the Sy Hersh story I mentioned in a previous comment. Although some New Yorker pieces require a subscription, this piece is currently available to everyone.

Oh, and more good (as in, the opposite of good) news out of Afghanistan: President Hamid Karzai has just signed a bill which further reduces the already terrible status of women in the country. To wit: married (Shi’a) women can no longer refuse to have sex with their husbands (i.e., there’s no such thing as rape in marriage), child marriage is now legal (although perhaps we should cheer that the age of girls’ marrying was raised from 9 to 16), and women may now be restricted from leaving the home.

Note that these changes in personal laws are directed at the Shi’ite minority in Afghanistan; how long before non-Shi’a men complain about the unfair privileges given to Shi’a men?

Needless to say, this all. . .just. . . great. Just absolutely great.

On the other hand, perhaps we should be cheered that the Taliban are becoming ever more reasonable. To wit:

The Taliban are now prepared to commit themselves to refraining from banning girls’ education, beating up taxi drivers for listening to Bollywood music, or measuring the length of mens’ beards, according to representatives of the Islamist movement. Burqas worn by women in public would be “strongly recommended” but not compulsory.

Oh, okay. Then everything’s all right, then.