[Pen-l] Mao & the Taliban?

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

from Friday's SLATE news summary:
>>In an important front-page piece, the NY [TIMES] reports on a so-far mostly overlooked factor that helped the Taliban gain control over Pakistan's Swat Valley: class warfare. In order to gain power, the Taliban skillfully exploited class divisions and ultimately forced out the approximately four dozen landlords that held the most power in the region. In order to do so, the Taliban organized armed gangs of landless peasants "that became their shock troops." The Taliban gained popularity by offering peasants, who were frustrated with their living conditions and a corrupt government that was deaf to their needs, what amounted to rich economic rewards and a feeling of self-determination. The ease with which the Taliban were able to exploit these entrenched class divisions is raising worries that the same series of events could play out in other parts of Pakistan, particularly in the populous Punjab province, which largely remains a feudal society. <<
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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