In that order, if you please. It's time for Western nations and their citizenry to wake the hell up. We've been down this road of slavish "pacifism" and appeasement to fascists before and thankfully regained our senses in time to prevent the worst. Is there still hope that the international community can regain its wits when it comes to the Taliban and their Pakistani paymasters? Terry Glavin writes in the Ottawa Citizen:

The proper way to approach the Taliban is to treat them for what they are — the front-line shock troops of a grimly determined, extremist and fanatical proxy of the Pakistani military, Saleh said. “So, why would you even talk to the proxy? Talk to their masters. Talk to the Pakistanis.”

To redeem the enormous investments countries like Canada have made in Afghanistan, the NATO countries should renew their early commitments to the increasingly disenfranchised, pro-democracy Afghan majority, Saleh said. This will have to include leaving Afghanistan with more than just police stations and battalions of Afghan soldiers capable of dealing only with internal violence. Afghanistan’s greater need is the capacity to defend itself against its neighbours, primarily the regime in Pakistan....More >>