De-indoctrinating the Taliban at $100 per head

The idea of paying the Taliban to convert to non-Taliban ways is a silly as paying farmers to not grow certain crops. And the question of what happens if a better offer comes around has not been explored, leaving open the very real possibility of defections resembling a badminton tournament.

Back and forth they go, taking advantage of every opening they can and playing the game we set up better than we do.

From The Telegraph November 26 by Sean Rayment

Taliban paid £100 a month to stop fighting

The “reintegration” programme, which has the full support of Nato, is intended to keep them from attacking troops from the International Stabilisation and Assistance Force (ISAF).

Those who have attacked and killed British forces are also effectively given an amnesty, which means they will never be put on trial.

The amnesty extends to all Taliban fighters, including those who have taken part in atrocities, such as murdering children, beheadings and hanging women.

The agreement is part of a policy signed by the British Government in which insurgents are being allowed to “walk off the battlefield” and enter a “reintegration” scheme.

Taliban joining the programme are not interrogated but instead are asked to complete a questionnaire explaining their reasons for joining the insurgency.

The strategy has been designed to encourage rank and file Taliban to stop fighting and instead return to their communities with “dignity and honour”.

More than 2,700 insurgents have been reintegrated into mainstream Afghan society since October 2010, with 800 now described as “showing interest in leaving the Taliban”.

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