First, the Taliban fought with Kalashnikovs and RPGs. Then they came with jury-rigged explosives. Now, the militants have brought the most fearsome weapon of all: buns of steel.

“Glad Tidings of Victory,” a video released by the Taliban’s Al-Emirat video production unit, shows the Afghan guerrillas strutting around an abandoned U.S. military base in Nuristan province. Taking a filmed “victory” lap around an American facility might make some sense as a propaganda tool. But taking a giggly victory lap on an elliptical in said base – as two Taliban enthusiastically do in the video – is a big infowar fail.

Since the U.S. began closing its remote bases in Nuristan, the Taliban have been showing off the alleged spoils of war they say they've taken from the abandoned outposts. The closures in Nuristan, planned for some time, were carried out as part of General Stanley McChrystal’s strategy to refocus coalition resources on Afghan population centers rather than remote, sparsely-populated areas. But given that U.S. outposts were often the subject of fierce attacks, particularly shortly before the announcement, the Taliban seized on the timing to frame the evacuations – and the items left behind – as the fruits of their military prowess, rather than a calculation about Nuristan’s strategic value.

While some items can make for effective propaganda symbols, the display of lower body exercise machines, generally speaking, tends to dilute their impact.

So beware, all. The Taliban are on the march – with sculpted thighs and firm buttocks.

[Pic and Eagle Eye: Evan Kohlmann, NEFA Foundation]