We knew the Taliban were long-since irrelevant to the rise of democratic Afghanistan, but petitioning the spiritual leader of "infidels" for a sort of doctrinal asylum sounds like the preamble to surrender:

Leaders of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan sent a message from their hiding place on Sunday, calling on Pope John Paul's successor to use his influence to stop what the Taliban called the persecution of Muslims. A Taliban spokesman told Reuters news agency the insurgency felt neither grief nor joy over the pope's death, but believed some the pontiff's message of peace and harmony was worth considering.

You wouldn't hit a man with glasses on, now would you? A clever Vatican would demand contrition and penance on the order of about 750,000 Hail Marys and Our Fathers each, keeping the turbaned ex-tyrants' hands pushed together for the next three years or so. (Hat tip, Omar, who's now weighed in on Iraq's president.)

MORE: "Going out of Style" re-posted separately.