When they were in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban were as repressive as any dictatorship in the world, and there is no reason to believe that they would be any different if they regained power there or in neighboring Pakistan. However, the war that American troops are fighting on the Afghan-Pakistani border is not just a simple case of good versus evil. The Obama administration would do well to take into account the fact that many Afghans do not recognize this border as it is defined by the West, nor have they done so for generations—since long before the Taliban was even created.