I think in the sort of upper echelons of the Taliban leadership, it's not that they're trying to court the media, but they definitely want to show that they're cordial, they're welcoming, they're responsible and respectful. The problem you have, as is so often the case in many military and paramilitary structures, what the leaders say up at the top from their nice five-star hotels and what the rank and file say on the ground with their whips and their truncheons, desperately trying to push back these crowds — there's often a disconnect there. And so while I will say that the Taliban [have] a much more coherent chain of command than most, and there's largely very good discipline among the rank and file, there's still always the capacity in that moment for something to go very wrong. ...
Based on my experience with the Taliban, you can't expect them to change. They are largely illiterate. ... They have been fighting since they were old enough to carry a gun. They don't know any other way of life. And the Taliban leadership understands that it could have a problem on its hands if it starts to lose the support of the rank and file and the foot soldiers, that they could be inadvertently pushed into the arms of more extremist groups like al-Qaida or ISIS — there are a number of different extremist terrorist groups that are operating inside Afghanistan — because at the end of the day, these young men have been trained from a young age to kill and to sacrifice and to be killed. And so you can't suddenly strip that away from them and expect them to go and get a job in a bank. It's just not going to happen. ...
I think the Taliban has one advantage on its side, which is that their version of Sharia law may be draconian and harsh, but they have a reputation for implementing swift justice and it's not corrupt. It may be harsh, but it's not corrupt. And so that does gain them a lot of supporters.
I would also say in rural areas, and I think it's hard for a lot of Americans to kind of get their head around this, but women's education and issues like this are really considered tangential to the primary considerations of everyday life. And so whether you're in government-held territory or whether you're in Taliban-held territory, it's just not a focus, things like girls' education. The thing that I heard again and again, both trips I've done in Ghazni and also a year and a half ago, when I was in the north, from a lot of people was, "We don't care who's in charge. We just want peace. We just want to be able to leave our homes without fear of airstrikes or gunfire." And this is interesting to me because it's exactly what the Taliban capitalized on in the late '90s when they came to power, that they were dealing with the populace that was so exhausted and worn down by incessant brutality and violence that they were willing to surrender so many of their rights if they would get security in return.
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/26/1031234338/cnn-clasrissa-ward-on-the-taliban-and-afghan-women
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