Holy crap. The Iranians hated the Taliban more than they hated the Sunni Iraqis. They considered them barbarians. The Taliban destroyed incredible antiquity that predated Islam, destroying priceless heritage linking man's early culture in the region. They were untrustworthy as a government. Few tears were shed at their departure, though few thought much of the Northern Alliance group we replaced them with (and that we had listed by the State Dept. as a terrorist cell).