Recent remarks of the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in regard to Afghanistan should end any attempt to legitimize Taliban government as a normal government. When Washington defines Taliban as a nation which engages in the illegal arrests, he is not speaking in the typical diplomacy speech. It is making an arduous deduction about the nature of the regime in general. It is significant because, during the past several years the Taliban tried to build the false image of order, tourism and stability. They have sought to establish their legitimacy abroad and they have governed by terror back home. The quote by Rubio cuts this picture and takes away the world of that perception where Afghanistan under the Taliban rule is still a country where the authority is exercised without law, without accountability, and without the fundamental respect of the human life.

The most significant thing about the American position is that the Taliban is still detaining the US citizens to allow them to be given some political concessions. In the instance where this is so and there is not so much to challenge the anxiety being portrayed by the high-ranking officials in America, then it is not merely a matter of security. It is hostage politics. It shows that there is a regime that does not........

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