Pathans are a majority ethnic group in Afghanistan. If the Pathans get an alternate leadership that was sincere with them, they will support that instead of Taliban. Life under the Northern Alliance was never good. We can go to any length and talk about all the ills of Taliban, but do we really have anything good to say about the Northern Alliance? Taliban did not come from out of nowhere. They were welcomed by the ethnic Pathans because lawlessness was at its peak in Afghanistan in those days. NATO/ISAF occupation has changed nothing. So until and unless a leadership comes forward that listens to the grievance of the Pathans and commit itself to solve their problems, Pathans will keep supporting the Taliban or any other insurgent fraction. Taliban are strange for you, but not for the Pathans. They are the same people who practice the same religion with the same vigor.I am not going to argue with your experience. But do answer one thing for me. In a post US/ ISAF Afghanistan, would these guys support the real Taliban?
More importantly, are these guys beneficial for Afghnistan as a nation?
No they are not beneficial to a stable, and prosperous Afghanistan because in such an Afghanistan, they will just not be there. They are a product of war, unrest, and anarchy. To get rid of them, you have to bring peace in Afghanistan. The peace comes only through Justice and law enforcement. In NATO/ISAF occupied Afghanistan, there are killings, there is bribe, and there is corruption but there is no justice.Which brings me to back to my point. they are certainly not beneficial to a stable, properous Afghanistan.
The only people seriously doing something good about Afghanistan are the "Occupied forces". Case in point, many have tried to do away with the opium trade, including the Tqaliban. Noone till now has provided an alternative which USAID had in ther form of pomegranete cultivation
Pomegranate or any other cash crop, opium is there to stay. No other cash crop can give quick money as does the opium. You can literally harvest two to three crops a year. You don’t have to wait for the tree to get mature enough to bear the fruits. There is a reason why poppy is preferred over other crops. The alternate is not pomegranate; the alternate is justice, peace, and the industrialization of Afghanistan.