During a meeting on Air Force One, President Obama’s cultural adviser on the war in Afghanistan assured a skeptical General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces there, that she could see no connection between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, paving the way for the president’s acceptance of some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future.“But then again,” she said, “I can’t see much of anything through this burka.”
Associated articles: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=NMALJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT; http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/analysis_al_qaeda_is.php; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/world/asia/16pstan.html?_r=2&th&emc=th
