"Talking to the Taliban"/Singing to the people

A major piece of work at the Globe and Mail (mulitmedia presentation), led by their Afstan correspondent Graeme Smith. What struck me most in the first story is what little interest ordinary Taliban types seem to have in their senior leadership. So there should be opportunities for talk, ignoring the leadership, at various points. For example:

Afghanistan: New Helmand Governor Confirms Desire For Talks With Taliban

The new governor of an embattled province in southern Afghanistan has confirmed his intention to negotiate with "second- and third-tier" Taliban to achieve greater security.

Update: What an awful lot Afghans are probably talking about, ignored by our media (h/t to Fred in "Comments"):

Afghan Pop Idol winner declared

The two male finalists received over 300,000 text message votes

The grand final of Afghanistan's hit pop music talent show, Afghan Star, has taken place in Kabul.

Rafi Naabzada, 19, saw off his rival Hameed Sakhizada, 21, to win the contest at a heavily-guarded hotel.

The programme has become a sensation in Afghanistan where it is estimated that 11m viewers, or over one-third of the population, regularly tuned in.

The show received severe criticism from conservative clerics, partly because a woman reached the final three...

An earlier story:

Afghanistan's Pop Idol breaks barriers
...

Most of the contestants who've not yet been voted out are men, but there is still one woman left.

Lima Sahaar is from the southern province of Kandahar and each week she travels up to the studios in Kabul for the show with her mother.

'Now all the young generation can show their talents.'

Her hair is usually covered with a scarf, her face not. The fact that a young woman from the birthplace of the Taleban is on stage performing each week says a lot about the way Afghanistan has changed in six years.

Taking such an obvious liberal stance can be dangerous, and although she explained she had the support of her family, there are many people opposed to her.

"I'm not afraid," she told me. "Afghan people don't care about risks or dangers.

"I think all of Afghanistan is in danger, but if we worry about those dangers we can't move on and the country's not going to develop."..