Watching Home Videos with a Former Taliban Doctor

Former Taliban doctors are sensitive guys. Before switching on the latest Taliban propaganda film, this new friend asks if I would be offended as an American.

As we begin to watch with generator power in the Afghan night, I learn that he had been a top doctor with the Taliban during their years of rule, though his decision was slightly more practical than ideological. (He got his tuition paid for a medical degree.)

This latest episode of the hit Tora Bora reality series, purchased at the local market for $0.60, features flames overlayed on top of Bush and Karzai, the newest strategies for hauling weapons in the mountains, and behind the scenes specials of attacks on American forces.

I try to get this doctor’s perspective on Afghanistan. He says that he no longer supports the Afghan Taliban, though he does not seem 100 percent vocally against them either. He also clearly notes (for my benefit) how American soldiers kill innocent civilians.

Then we eat chicken.

So I ask him: “If you don’t support the Afghan Taliban, if the Americans kill innocent people, and if the Afghan government is massively corrupt, then what is the solution for Afghanistan?”

His response: “We need Muslim soldiers to provide security for our people -– but not forces from Pakistan or Iran.” He seems particularly energized by an influx of Indonesian and Turkish soldiers. (My colleague reminds him that Turkey is part of NATO. He then seems less enamored with Turkey.)

What about the American plan to buyout the Taliban? He suggests maybe 30-40 percent would jump ship. And on Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops?

“It is a very difficult situation. But more soldiers don’t solve the problems of Afghanistan."

Earlier in the day, I also spoke with an Afghan dentist with a slightly different perspective. He shared, "Obama's plan for more troops is much needed. Afghan soldiers do not have the capacity to deal with the problem of the Taliban."

And can this war be won by military force? He laughed and said with a dentist's smile, "I hope so."

It seems that in my non-Gallup-sponsored poll on the presence of American forces in Afghanistan, the opinions of educated Afghan medical professionals are not unlike the opinions of Americans -- pretty much all over the place.

Photo credit: pixelviz