The Taliban is a destructive force of darkness, said the former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, putting him at odds with the new Bishop to the Forces, Dr Stephen Venner, who appeared to defend the Taliban this week.
In Standpoint magazine, Bishop Nazir-Ali writes: “Any abandonment of Afghanistan, at this stage, will create exactly the kind of chaos in which these movements flourish. It will, once again, bring about the conditions where the Taliban will return the country to the darkest night and also remove any incentive for Pakistan to engage with its own extremist groups, at least in the border areas.
“We should not underestimate its [radical Islam’s] capacity for disruption and destruction and its desire to remake the world in its own image. In the face of such an ideology, the international community must not lose its nerve. Any withdrawal from a political, military and even intellectual engagement will be seen as capitulation.”
Thank you Bishop Nazir-Ali for stepping up. That’s all we laymen ask: When a bishop goes off the reservation, a grown-up needs to confront them with the truth. One thing I’ll agree with Bishop Venner about: It’s not enough to simply say “bad Taliban.” We need to give details. For example: They lob mortars into crowds of women and children attending medical clinics provided by people they don’t like. They chop off the heads of people who don’t cooperate with them, or who they suspect may not fully cooperate. They kill extended families of people who they suspect may have cooperated with people they don’t like. They hang Afghan policemen from trees in their villages. They use women and children and elderly citizens as human shields in combat situations. That’s just for starters. Americans need to know this. They would be appalled if they heard the atrocities committed by the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies.