After their takeover, the Taliban initially began pretending that they had a brand new attitude. What the Islamists were really after was cash. Billions in foreign aid and Afghanistan’s foreign holdings. They seem to have decided that they’re not getting them anyway and it’s time to stop pretending.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public — a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.

The decree says that women should leave the home only when necessary, and that male relatives would face punishment — starting with a summons and escalating up to court hearings and jail time — for women’s dress code violations.

This is who the Taliban are. Actually it’s a fraction of who they are. The real orders will be a good deal more brutal. But it’s refreshing progress. 

Jihadists who are open about what they are and stand for are open enemies, and it’s far better to have ISIS as an enemy than the Muslim Brotherhood. Especially when your own leadership consists of people unwilling to be honest about the stakes and the nature of the conflict.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it was deeply concerned with what appeared to be a formal directive that would be implemented and enforced, adding that it would seek clarifications from the Taliban about the decision.

“This decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans’ human rights, including those of women and girls, that had been provided to the international community by Taliban representatives during discussions and negotiations over the past decade,” it said in a statement.

If you can’t trust a murderous bunch of killers whose moral guidance comes from a fanatical pedophile rapist, whom can you trust?

The decree, which calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa, evoked similar restrictions on women during the Taliban’s previous rule between 1996 and 2001.

“Those women who are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes,” he said. “Islamic principles and Islamic ideology are more important to us than anything else,” Hanafi said.

That they are.

Now it’s time for the Biden administration and the international community to step sending any money into Talibanistan, regardless of whether it’s so-called humanitarian aid or anything else.