” ‘The Americans do not have a real policy in this region,’ observed [Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah] Massoud not long after his retreat from Kabul [Afghanistan, in an interview with Le Figaro on October 21, 1996]. ‘They rely entirely on the Pakistanis, who told them the Taliban would bring stability [and] an end to drug trafficking;…thanks to them, Afghanistan would no longer be a sanctuary for international terrorists. However, we still do not have peace, opium production is continuing apace in the zones controlled by the Taliban, and they have given shelter to Osama bin Laden.’ He summed up the big problem: the Taliban ‘are now autonomous and are uncontrollable.’ “
– Roy Gutman, How We Missed the Story, Page 82