Most of the time, I have transcribed in English what Afghans said in Dari or Pashtu. I worked from over 170 tapes and had everything translated as carefully as possible. In the process, I often found that what people were actually saying was radically different to what American or British troops were told they were saying. I have only included the interpreters’ words or phrases in Dari or Pashtu when mistranslations and miscommunications were particularly revealing.

I have had to be sloppy in using the word ‘Taliban’ to describe all opposition fighters in Afghanistan. It would take another book to explain the many different motives of the many different groups currently fighting, ranging from angry farmers to former Mujahadeen commanders. It is safe to say that a great many have no relationship with the pre 9/11 Taliban and even fewer have any link with or affinity to Al-Qaeda. Many are just angry local men who feel obliged to fight government or foreign forces. It’s often said that this is simply the way they are, but in many cases they took a considerable amount of persuading. These are the men I’m referring to when I say ‘Taliban’.