A Most Useful Thumbnail Sketch

[Sukerkin]

Some days the BBC drives me barmy with the way that it focusses on the trivial or ignores major events in the world at large in preference to 'Western-centric' news.

But this thumbnail sketch of the birth and activities of the Taliban makes a very interesting read indeed and reminds me that good journalistic writing can still occur:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1549285.stm

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I was hoping for something with a bit more meat on it, but as a thumbnail, it is indeed useful.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

You might find this interesting. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd suspect the BBC author of some plagiarizing, or at least some rather liberal reword-and-reuse without attribution.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10551/taliban_in_afghanistan.html

 

[Bill Mattocks]

A little bit more of an in-depth analysis, from George Washington University:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/