here is something that encourages me. the taliban has taken over afghanistan. they don't have a pot to take a leak in. they don't have any money. the banks are empty. all the financial credit of afghanistan has been seized by the united states and other international regulators. they have no one picking up the trash, no one making the water run, no one making the lights go on. very shortly all of those necessary utilities will go by the wayside. the cell phones they treasure will soon not be working because there's no one maintaining the system. i would say now is a rare chance to get the taliban to comply, certainly to get the evacuations completed. i think that is very necessary. in terms of the military weak -- howie: my own take is that we may be looking at a kinder, gentler brutality on the part of the regime. it needs financial aid from the world and maybe that moderates