Commentary For most of us in the West, the image we instinctively associate with women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan is the animated shroud known as the burqa, the only clue to their humanity a pair of eyes behind a fabric grille. It therefore came as a surprise to me to discover that Afghanistan had a national female soccer team, formed in 2007—the U.S. presence since 2001 gave women’s sport a big boost—made up of girls age 14–16. But now it is a team in limbo. Like so many other Afghan women whose lives had improved under American protection, the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces in August exposed them to anticipated reprisals from the Taliban, whose fundamentalist strictures forbid sport to women, and whose 1996–2001 tyranny was especially brutal for women. Even more damning in Taliban eyes, these girls’ families were active advocates for girls’ rights. One member of the …