> It's totally anecdotal, but all the Uzbeks I've talked
> to about this in Moscow (where we have a sizeable
> Uzbek community) think that killing Talibs is an
> awesome idea in principle.
This is hardly surprising, since the Taliban are a heavily Pashtun group, and much of the conflict in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal can be explained with reference to rival brands of ethnic clientelism. It was the leading Uzbek warlord, Rashid Dostum -- a former PDPA military commander -- who basically handed Kabul over to the muj by switching sides (in 1992 I think).
Theologically, by the way, the Taliban are not Wahhabis but followers of the Deobandi strain of Islam, which has roots in the British suppression of the Sepoy Rebellion in India. Deobandi Islam is similar to the Wahhabis in its puritanism (opposition to Sufism and to the veneration of saints and "idols"; strict gender segregation and veiling; etc.), but is less aggressive in its proselytization -- probably because they don't have the wealth of the whole Saudi oil kingdom to fund madrassas all over the world.
This is a long way of saying, though, that I don't think religion has much to do with Uzbek opposition to the Taliban. Ethnicity would be more important, perhaps.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories