Barbara Walters did a story on gender roles in Kabul several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked about 5 paces behind their husbands. She returned to Kabul recently and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. These days they walk even further back and suddenly seem happy with the old custom. Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked: "But why do you now seem happy with an old-fashioned custom that you used to try and change" "Land mines," said the woman.