Quasi states are supported more by the international community and don't have support from their government or people. For instance, a tribe or splinter group that controls a territory within a country but is not sanctioned or controlled by the government. The Taliban are rural, unschooled who are from and operate in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda are older, more educated, more radical and have Arab connections.

As for the "ink-stained fingers", Iraqi election officials have people put their right index finger in ink after they have voted. Without formal lists of voters, it is how they would keep people from voting more than once. If you had ink on your finger, they wouldn't let you back in! Sadly, for terrorists opposing the elections and trying to keep people from the voting centers, they can also quickly see who voted - and kill them in order to try to scare people from voting. Cutting off the finger "sends a message" as to why they were killed - for voting. "Passing the buck" means to pass responsibility - or more often, to dodge responsibility - to someone else. Pres. Harry Truman had a famous sign on his desk in the Oval Office saying "The Buck Stops Here" - meaning, that as the President, he was the highest leader and there was nowhere else for responsibility to go! (That would be a sign of strength, integrity, and confidence.)