I’ve always been struck by stories of the Shining Path (a.k.a. the Communist Party of Peru): In a world full of loopy terrorist organizations, they manage to stand out. Part of their m.o. is to attack aid workers, charity clinics, and the like, on the theory that they can hasten the revolution by making life as miserable as possible for the poor, who stubbornly refuse to become revolutionaries. This report suggests that the Taliban is toying with the Shining Path model (as indeed they have been for some time), a worrisome development.

I’m skeptical of the big nation-building enterprises in Iraq and (especially) in Afghanistan, and I have my doubts about whether our model of war-fighting, which seems to me still to be very traditional, truly can contain a low-rent band of criminals and fanatics such as the Taliban. But I do hope that the penny and a half that the “black budget” gets out of every dollar I pay in taxes finds its way into the pockets of some ruthless and efficient operators, because I cannot see any other way to deal with the likes of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and a free and open society such as ours cannot effectively police them within our own borders.

(Since I’m on the spending beat, I’ll point out that our $56 billion black budget is approximately equal to what we’ll spend on ethanol subsidies through 2015, for perspective. Next time some politician tells you that national security is his top priority, ask him how he votes on ethanol and get ready to tell him he’s a liar.)