Oh, Great

From Night Watch for last night we have this good news/bad news story:

Afghanistan:   For the record.  The Afghan government has reached an agreement with the Taliban by which they will end attacks on state schools in return for a more conservative religious curriculum and the hiring of Taliban-approved mullahs as teachers, according to an unconfirmed report.  The deal, which was agreed at the national level with the Afghan education ministry and at the village level by local communities, appears to have contributed to a fall in the level of violence across much of Afghanistan over the past year.

Comment:  The agreement is not confirmed, but would represent a significant concession to the Taliban and would end the education of girls beyond about 6th grade.  NightWatch is investigating the fighting data on attacks against schools.

On the other hand, it is their country.  As H L Mencken (1880 - 1956) observed:

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.

But, then Mr Mencken was a known crank.

Regards  —  Cliff