Taleban attack Kabul luxury hotel (because they are weak?)

[uppityperson]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7187592.stm

Four heavily armed Taleban fighters have attacked the Serena hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the main hotel there for international visitors. Guests, including the Norwegian foreign minister, were rushed to the cellar to escape the attackers. There was at least one explosion, which the Taleban say was caused by one of their men detonating a "suicide jacket", as well as shooting. Casualty figures are not clear. Police have kept journalists from the scene.
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Deteriorating security

The BBC's defence and security correspondent, Rob Watson, says Nato officials say suicide attacks are a sign of the Taleban's weakness, not its strength.

They argue the Taleban has been forced into such tactics because of Nato's overwhelming military superiority and a series of defeats on the conventional battlefield, he says.

But Nato and Afghan officials concede that suicide attacks provide spectacular publicity for the insurgents, our correspondent adds.

[Igel]

1. "Because we are weak."

Didn't the PLO use precisely that reasoning in justifying their tactics?

Yeah, they did.

Wasn't the validity of their argument--even if you think the tactics are reprehensible--accepted by most people?

Yeah, it was.

So do we really want to be stuck trying to argue that the PLO engaged in suicide bombings because they were stronger than the Israelis?