Reply #26: Karzai helped fund the Taliban in the 1980s when they fought the Soviet Union [View All]

[zulchzulu]

He is actually considered (or was) a taliban, which roughly means a student of Pashtun-styled Islamic fundamentalism and was raised as a variation of talibanesque aristocracy. He later decided to side against the Taliban around 2001, as most Afghan warlords will do when someone waves some cash and tells them to join their ranks.

You can start here (http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Pashtun_people) and follow the links. It will make you dizzy since it's very nuanced and complicated.