Written by: Fahim Al-Hamid @Falhamid2

The world wants actions on the ground, movement reassures, marketing, beautifies

So far, the strategy that experts have read through the statements of the movement’s leaders is that it wants to change the image that the Taliban has painted over the past decades as a terrorist movement, and this appears from the movement’s fighters avoiding entering into a war to control cities, as this option was available to it, in addition to securing diplomatic missions in Kabul and that it will not loot or kill government employees and officials, both military and civilians, in addition to its assurance of ensuring the safety and security of embassies, international missions and charities that will allow them to continue their work without concern, as well as the “popular welcome” of its return to power. Here, observers wonder whether the Taliban will be able to rule a people that have witnessed all these radical liberation changes and have become open to the world and will not be satisfied with imposing a strict lifestyle as happened in the past, especially since Afghan society has become a believer in pluralism and refuse to monopolize power.

Although the movement has softened its discourse on the status of women, the stage will reveal the nature of the movement's repositioning and the radical modification of its ideas and beliefs. After the Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan, the features of life that were taking shape over the past two decades seemed to evaporate, along with the dreams of many Afghan women who are threatened by the veil of burqa and deprivation of education and work. If we go back to the past, in the fall of 1996, the Taliban seized the capital, Kabul, to enforce their brutal rule, depriving women of most of their basic rights, outlawing music and all other forms of art, and forcing males to grow beards and not wear Western dress.

The Taliban had refused any pressure on it to expel the leaders of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, which led to the US intervention following the September 11 attacks and its overthrow. It cannot be certain that past events revealed a change in the Taliban’s strategy, and its internal and external dealings, from what the movement was in twenty years ago.

However, some experts believe otherwise, claiming that the Taliban movement has changed, and has begun to show a kind of political realism. Experts build this opinion on the Taliban’s management of the current conflict, not relying on armed force and avoiding direct military confrontations as a first option, but rather using notables, tribal leaders and historical figures to negotiate and mediate with government and army officials in those cities, and then the process of handing over power takes place peacefully. And organized, as well as the statements of the leaders of the movement that the Taliban sought to avoid the shedding of Afghan blood, and not to follow a policy of revenge or executions, unlike what it did in 1996.