You seem to assume that the people of Afghanistan have no agency in anything they do, even though some of them kicked the ass of four of the most powerful empires that have ever existed. I lived around a lot of people in the DC area who had spent time in Afghanistan in the military, in another government capacity, as a contractor, or in an NGO. They respected the Taliban, because they were warriors, not soldiers. I bet that Dr. PhD in Afghan History doesn't live in Afghanistan.