The recent bombings in Pakistan simply flew by. There is so much happening in the world: An impending Egyptian military coup, Violent Brazilian protests, Bigshots getting knocked out of Wimbledon by minnows; the bombings in Pakistan were a certainly a poor investment for the media and the press. It is unfortunate but true that it happens every few days and the media, I am sure, will cover it then when the rest of the world is at peace.The Taliban has succeeded. They have taught us to live in terror and feel cozy. Bombings are commonplace now and some countries are already destroyed to such an extent by the long wars that capital loss after a blast is low. The world is forgetting that the Taliban is still at large, their allies and agencies still making explosive plans. Slowly but surely, the magnitude of destruction will be so enormous that we may lose the potential of these countries.The Talibani ideology is the nemesis. Due to systematic psychological brain-washing, they have a huge support base. These are poor, expectant people, who hope that these leaders will put an end to their misery, poverty and the fear that encapsulates their mind after they have witnessed unimaginable destruction during the wars. Illiteracy fuels this false hope. Many Islamic leaders have opposed the Talibani lessons drawn from the holy Koran. Though the Taliban are now pronounced world villains, they were once welcomed in their homeland, Afghanistan, as war heroes. Here is their history:Soviet Union, during the peak of the Cold War, had sent thousands of its elite soldiers to Afghanistan to spread communism after the collapse of monarchy. They faced a frail resistance, the Mujahedeen, fighting their hearts out against a mighty foe. The US noticed their valor, and equipped them with some of the deadliest weapons. For the US, it was perhaps the most successfully carried out covert operation, with the help of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Mujahedeen fought furiously, and the Soviets faced a rout, which accompanied worldwide ignominy and scrutiny.Post-communism, the Afghans collapsed into a Civil War due to power-hungry leaders of the Ethnic Groups which had fought against the Soviets. History witnessed the emergence of Mullah Mohammed Omar, a tall and impulsive leader, who with his students (The Talibs) gained support and started expanding control in the southern provinces. His expansion was halted by Ahmad Shah Massoud, located in Kabul with sound skills in war strategizing. Massoud, gave Omar a run for his money, until finally he was assassinated in a plot, said to be planned by Osama Bin Laden.Taliban brought a reign of terror. Among severe restrictions on people professing in other religions or scientific ideas, they imposed discordant rules. A video on the internet shows a man being cruelly beaten by what are supposed to be Talibani guards on his crime, which is an inappropriate length of his beard. All womens rights were suspended, and almost 70,000 Afghani girls had to leave schools. The Sharia was imposed by a special police and the punishments ranged from amputations to executions by stoning or public shooting. Scars of the brutality expressed by the Taliban remain in the minds of the citizens of Afghanistan, those who are lucky to be alive.The US had long known the connections between Omar and Osama, but had never expected the trouble brewing. The coalition forces in Afghanistan, after the 9/11 have occupied it ever since, hunting the Al-Qaeda down, with the recent success of the encounter of Osama (heavily controversial). In all the world politics, the people of Afghanistan suffered endlessly. The land has seen unimaginable bloodshed and has virtually no economy, apart from being the biggest producer of the Opium poppy. The Taliban being the vice has taught us some very important lessons. The cold war was a difficult time, and the Soviets (communists back then), thought it was an ideal time to spread their ideology. Being the superpower, it believed it could feast upon the feeble administration of Afghanistan. After 14 years of war with the Mujahedeen, it faced world-wide opposition and long bills of keeping the economy of Afghanistan alive as well as fighting the war. After the Soviets completed a full retreat, Mikhail Gorbachev soon lost confidence of his subjects leading to the disintegration of the USSR. The Afghanistan occupation fruited into one of the catastrophic investments for the Soviets.The US should learn one thing: you cannot solve a problem with the thinking used in creating it. The Mujahedeen, which the US armed in the Soviet war, are now the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda. Apart from the 9/11, these terrorist groups and their allies constantly infiltrate in the neighboring nation of Pakistan, and their mischief is regularly experienced by India. A recent news report stated that the plans to construct a pipe-line supply of gaseous fuels to Pakistan and India from Iran has been put on hold due to the fear of a Talibani opposition. It is feared that Pakistani arsenal is under Talibani control. If only the US had handled the matters differently rather than arming the bold resistance force, things would have been much more in control. The usage of war to clear out an ideology like communism (and getting even with the Soviets) was a poor idea. The US is reaping what it sowed. The Taliban was completely eroded from its bases by the US in 2001. Five years later, they are back with a vengeance. With funds from unknown sources and modern weapons in their armory, they are an armys nightmare. Recently, a documentary showed the US platoons scanning the scorched earth of Afghanistan looking for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). These IEDs were skillfully hidden beneath the roads and explode when they experience pressure from a passing vehicle. The locals are least helpful in the quest for finding these explosives, before they find the forces. The Taliban is giving what the West fails to provide: hope. Their majesty in their lands is incomparable. But in their rigid implementation of what they call are principles of the Koran, they are keeping a country and its people decades behind time. If the US really wants to change something in the grim situation prevailing in those lands, it should change the attitude of the residents. To introduce democracy in that nation, we need to equip the student rather than the army. The policy of invade and give democracy should be abandoned and hearts of the Afghanis should be won, after which they themselves will go for democracy and equality. The Taliban has to be erased from the minds of the people, not from the face of the earth. And that will happen if an Afghani child smiles in peace.