Talibans are willing to switch sides... for money

In Afghanistan, there is a saying: "You can rent an Afghan, but you can't buy him."

However, US President Barack Obama is tryind to do just that. This Wednesday October 28th, 2009, President Obama signed a "defense appropiations bill" which will pay for all the military movements made in the 2010.

Howeer, this bill sets apart a quantity of money to pay Taliban members to quit the organisation and instead support the United States. This is because Talibans seem to be fighting because they need money, and because they are loyal to a leader, so they really are not fighting because of their conviction or because their religion.

Basically, this makes the Talibans mercenaries: no loyalty to anyone but the highest bidder. So... will this tactic by the US to underminde the Taliban's power work? Will they accept the money and switch sides? Will they just accept the money and turn on the US when they are inside their ranks? Or will they reject any negotiations?

We'll have to wait and see. For now, eperts are optimists that by paying the Taliban, the USA can at least prevent them from fighting against the US Army.