The Latest American Hit-and-Run Escapade

"Everybody’s worried about a repeat of the Saigon images."

"But this could change. If you have a parade of horribles continue to unfold in Afghanistan, it could seep into the public consciousness the way Iraq did in 2013 and 2014."

Brian Katulis, foreign policy expert, Center for American Progress

 

"If Trump is the Republican nominee again, I think it would be hard for him to criticize Biden for executing a plan that Trump put into motion,"

"Trump didn’t just open the door [to a withdrawal], what he did was force the issue in a way that it hadn’t been forced before."

"Polls show that a majority of Americans want to leave Afghanistan. But they also show that if you ask Americans about their foreign policy or national security objectives, they will almost always rank preventing terrorist attacks on the United States as number one or two, and they will rank extracting America from military operations overseas far below that."

Richard Fontaine, chief executive, Center for a New American Security

Displaced Afghans at a makeshift camp on Tuesday in Kabul, the capital. The threat of a Taliban conquest and new risks to U.S. personnel and allies in the country could cause Americans to reconsider their views.   Credit...Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Actually, what President Donald Trump did in pursuing an escape for the United States from the protracted war in Afghanistan against religious fundamentalists who had no trouble recruiting from the local population by force of persuasion or force of arms, was to legitimize the Taliban as a returning potential government. By bringing them to a series of bargaining sessions and treating them like a government-in-exile, meetings that excluded the elected and Western-supported government of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani at the insistence of the Taliban, was to give them an imprimatur of U.S. recognition.

 

It wouldn't have taken too much of a cerebral exercise to gain the insight that the Taliban had no interest whatever in peace talks with the Afghan government. At the same time, it was more than eager to demonstrate on the world stage that it could hold its own in talks with the U.S. administration's representative to Afghanistan, Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad at a conference centre in Doha, Qatar. A grand title for a pathetic betrayal of the Afghan people. 

 

The primitive, savagely Islamist Taliban demonstrating their political, diplomatic bona fides. So that they could boast afterward that they had achieved their goal; persuading the U.S. and other foreign NATO troops to leave Afghanistan. Sneering that they had the great United States of America on the run. That would make an impression on al-Qaeda and Islamic State comfortably ensconced in northern Afghanistan.

With the pretense that the United States would be safe from any possible future attacks reminiscent of the horrors of 9/11 when the Taliban solemnly pledged that terrorist groups stationed in Afghanistan with which the Taliban shared a common goal would not be permitted to launch attacks against the U.S., the Biden administration could assure its public that it had extracted American troops from an unending conflict, one whose consequences would never come back to bite the U.S. again. A risibly false premise.

Negotiating with terrorists results in no assurances that can be relied upon for anything. Other than that they will do whatever it takes to gain their upper hand and since they failed to suspend attacks throughout the negotiating period it could readily be taken as an assurance that their promises were conditioned on the need to deceive, to assure a muddle-headed administration that it was perfectly 'safe' for Afghanistan and the Afghan people for the Americans to decamp without so much as a by-your-leave advance notice to the Afghan military and its government.

"We are closely watching the deteriorating security conditions in parts of the country, but no particular outcome, in our view, is inevitable."

"[The Afghans] need to determine ... if they have the political will to fight back and if they have the ability to unite as leaders to fight back ... [their own fate]."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki

A crowd in Kabul this week applying for a special immigrant visa program that resettles thousands of Afghans and their family members.   Credit...Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

 So far, the battles are being won by the Taliban. Afghan forces have a habit of melting away into the night when the going gets tough, and it does get tough. They are well aware that if any members of the Afghan national police or the military are taken prisoner, their tenure as prisoners will be extremely short. As long as it takes for the Taliban to butcher them, a prospect that fails to appeal to the defenders of the country and the nation. 

Outsiders looking in foresee that Kabul may last another 30 days in the hands of its government. An American defence official speaking anonymously talks of a new assessment on how long it would take for Kabul to capitulate to Taliban rule given its rapid gains. "But this is not a foregone conclusion", he states; Afghan security forces could conceivably reverse the Taliban momentum with greater resistance on their part. The U.S. military can provide the Afghan military with resources like arms, but not backbone. Though not for lack of trying.

Inflamed by the fervour of religious fundamentalism and fired by the prospect of conquest the Taliban inspire fear in the minds of those they target; their own countrymen who are prepared to counter them but are unable to muster the same level of ferocity in barbaric slaughter that seems to come so naturally to the Taliban. Now in control of 65 percent of the country with one provincial capital after another falling to them, including border gateways, the Taliban appear unstoppable. And as they advance the populace heads for exits.

The international community is aghast and mindful of the dire need to evacuate their diplomatic missions before the inevitable occurs. With internal refugees streaming into Kabul, among them are most certainly Taliban, indistinguishable from the terrorized civilian population, yet intent on their mission among which most surely are attacks not only on civil arms of the Afghan government but foreign diplomats still ensconced in their embassies.

Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, which the armed group captured on Thursday [Gulabuddin Amiri/AP Photo]

 

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (aka) Taliban

"Every single [provincial] capital is besieged by the Emirate. The Emirate could conquer them as easily as the districts, but then we would want to conquer them in the best way possible, to prevent casualties and destruction, to prevent looting, and to appoint civil servants."

"The first step was to conquer economic borders, the second step will be imposing more economic restrictions through controlling imported foods, petrol and gas."

"The Islamic Emirate asked others to sit down for talks and establish peace, but talks on the forthcoming regime are for establishing a pure Islamic regime."

Mohammad Zahid Himmat, Taliban Commander, Wardak Province

 

"[The Taliban] has a misguided calculation that they can win militarily. Tactical gains in the past couple of months have made them even more arrogant, but the atrocities they committed recently will haunt them."

"They have lost whatever support they had among the people. they have proven again that they are the same old terrorist group."

"We will fight them to our last drop of blood if they believe they will win militarily. If war is what will finally convince the Taliban, we will give them that."

Waheed Omer, senior aide, President Ashraf Ghani 

The Taliban are intensifying attacks across Afghanistan to gain more territory amid NATO's troop withdrawal

"The Taliban are emerging victorious not just in their traditional areas in the south of Afghanistan, like Kandahar or Helmand, but also in northern districts such as Mazar-e-Sharif. The government forces seem to be on the backfoot, while warlords are re-arming to fight the Taliban."

"The Americans gave away far too much in this deal with the Taliban and without anything in return. The Taliban got many concessions but Kabul got nothing. Former US President Donald Trump was in a hurry to end the negotiations as soon as possible and nobody could control him."

"Ghani has not been able to unite the people under a common position of dialogue with the Taliban. The militants know this and that's one of the reasons why they have refused to talk with Ghani so far, and also refused to accept the American plan for the Doha talks and the conference in Turkey."

"As long as the Pakistani military and intelligence continue to give them the sanctuary, there is no need for the Taliban to accept any compromise or any deal or any dialogue with Kabul. Why should they when their leaders are safe and their families are safe? If Pakistan wants to show its sincerity, it needs to immediately force the Taliban leaders to either compromise or leave their sanctuaries in Quetta or in Peshawar."

"Pakistan is pursuing a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand it is trying to promote a peaceful conclusion [of the U.S. presence] and it fears very much an influx of refugees and the chaos that would follow a Taliban takeover. At the same time it is also encouraging the Taliban."

Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani journalist, author

The world knows the brutal Islamist fundamentalist militias once again preparing to lead Afghanistan back to the medieval era as the Taliban; they prefer to speak of themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, taking their rightful rule of the battle-fatigued country where a type of democracy was steadily creeping into place, women liberated halfway to becoming an important part of the country's recovery from the soul-destroying strictures of Islamist sharia law imposed by an earlier iteration of the Taliban's ruinous government.

 

The remorseless killers of Afghan civilians, military, protesters, national police and politicians they despise, feel themselves back in control, just wiping out the last vestiges of Western-inspired governance. They're at the stage now of capturing more territory to claim as their own, of choking off the Afghan government's economy through the control of border crossings with neighbouring nations with which the country trades. And in 'consulting' with the governments of neighbours, establishing their position as future rulers.

 

Taliban leaders are intent on establishing themselves as the 'legitimate' leaders of the country, anxious for international recognition and it appears that Turkey, Iran and Russia are prepared to deal diplomatically with them. "The Taliban see a political settlement, meaning a transfer of power with certain concessions to the government but they can't be trusted", pointed out Hussain Haqqani, former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S., now with the Hudson Institute.

 

There was no training given to Afghan soldiers when the U.S. closed the airbases in Kandahar and Bagram, to enable them to maintain the equipment gifted to them by the U.S., Afghan officials and military experts pointing to the situation as a critical advantage lost with the return to the U.S. of thousands of logistics contractors who had maintained the air and ground weapons systems -- in joining the departure of the thousands of U.S. and NATO coalition soldiers from Afghanistan. 

President Biden's pledge to support the Afghan forces with funding and delivering Black Hawk helicopters is a feel-good move for his administration; its practical results for a flailing Afghan military will soon enough be assessed as the entire country falls to the Taliban. Afghan President Ghani who cut ties with the influential Afghan warlords now is in desperate need of their help as the former forces behind the Northern Alliance.

 

A recycling shop near the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan after American soldiers abandoned the country in the dead of the night without informing Afghan officials.  Adek Berry/AFP via Getty

"The irony is that Ghani's survival depends on the Northern Alliance, which he has worked so hard to dismantle. He seems to be unable to compromise, isolated and in denial about the situation around him", remarked Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, associate professor of international affairs at University of Pittsburgh, of the coalition of militias who had ousted the past Taliban regime. In the face of the relentless violence of the Taliban, a negotiated political settlement is beyond remote.

India, staunchly opposed to the Taliban as a proxy of Pakistan, confirmed they opened talks with the Islamists, even while President Ghani accuses Pakistan of allowing ten thousand jihadis to pass over the border to give assistance to the Taliban, accusing Islamabad of failing to place pressure on Islamists to agree to peace talks. "Afghanistan is under a full-scale invasion of Talib terrorists who have an organized backing and sponsorship in Pakistan ... They have no intention to engage in meaningful negotiations", added Vice-President Amrullah Saleh.

Islamabad continues to claim it has no influence on the Taliban, even as the U.S. accuses it of playing a "double game", harbouring terrorists. But then, Pakistan was doing that back when the U.S. was praising it for being so helpful in the war against terror, naming Pakistan its great partner in the battle against al-Qaeda, even while it gave haven in Abbottabad next to an elite Pakistani military garrison, to Osama bin Laden in his private incognito compound. 

Al-Qaeda has its firm presence in fifteen provinces in Afghanistan, according to a July UN Security Council report. Operating under Taliban protection in Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces, fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan joining it. It has aligned with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in Xinjiang, China. Its Pakistan Taliban counterpart Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan is once again restive and Pakistan's Interagency Intelligence group may yet grapple again with the monster they created. 

"Everybody's lost leverage over the Taliban. Everybody now needs to invest fully in trying to see if we can get to some, even imperfect, arrangement that would allow this protracted conflict to be warded off", offered Moeed Yusuf, Pakistan's national security adviser. Should Kabul collapse, neighbouring countries have reason to fear a protracted civil war would again attract extremists. But home-grown Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan has launched cross-border attacks even while ISIL expands its presence with sleeper cells around Kabul.

 

Bagram, at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains, has a long history as an army base. The Soviet army used the base during its invasion in 1979. Many feared that when the Americans left, Bagram would fall into Taliban hands — a strategic victory for the Islamists

"I don't think the Taliban are a terrorist movement but they have relations, friendships, and shared a common goal of removing the U.S. Terrorist organizations will have latitude, some of the Taliban will be perfectly happy to turn a blind eye."

"The most painful moment is yet to come. It could be Kabul falling, maybe it is that Saigon moment of a helicopter going with people trying to escape, maybe it is executions."

"The most painful thing would be a terrorist attack on the United States."

Carter Malkasian, author: The American War in Afghanistan

Collaborationists in Mutual Harmony

China government official

China hopes the Afghan #Taliban will put Afghanistan's national interests first, uphold commitment to peace talks, embrace the goal of peace, create a positive image and adopt an inclusive policy.

"The hasty withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan actually marks the failure of the U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. [Beijing stresses the need for foreign forces to stage a] responsible withdrawal [to ensure no security vacuum is created]."

"[The movement -- East Turkestan Islamic Movement; ETIM] poses a direct threat to China's national security and territorial integrity."

"It is the common responsibility of the international community to fight against ETIM."

"We hope the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organizations, including the ETIM, and resolutely and effectively combat them to remove obstacles, play a positive role and create enabling conditions for security, stability, development and cooperation in the region." 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

 

"Politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meeting."

"Wang pointed out that the Afghan Taliban is an important military and political force in Afghanistan and is expected to play an important role in the country's peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process."

Mohammad Naeem, spokesperson, political office, Taliban

 

"With a U.S. exit from Afghanistan and the inability of [Afghan] President Ashraf Ghani to secure the country's borders, neighbors and regional powers have to hedge their bets regarding the future."

"While the Taliban give promises of security to Afghanistan's neighbors, Kabul keeps asking for help." "This perception of an embattled President Ghani doesn't make for good looks."

Torek Farhadi, former Afghan government adviser 

 

"[The Taliban] will never allow any force to use Afghan territory to engage in acts detrimental to China." 

"The Afghan Taliban has the utmost sincerity to work toward and realize peace. It stands ready to work with other parties to establish a political framework in Afghanistan that is broadly-based, inclusive and accepted by the people and protect human rights, especially rights of women and children."

Taliban deputy political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar 

Brazen lies. For consumption by the international community. China, on the other hand knows full well with whom it deals in making a pact with the devil. Afghan Taliban politics is quite familiar to Beijing; a reflection of their own, where stark reality is in conflict with the comforting language of tolerance, sweetness and light. Each, China and the aspiring, soon-to-be reconquest of Afghanistan, are devoted to the ruthless journey of subduing and commanding their respective populations by all and any means.

 

The awkwardness between reality and diplomatic assurances shielded by the exercise in public relations where each paints itself as cognizant of the well-being of those whose lives they directly impact being uppermost in mind. Not that their manner of dictatorial rule must prevail and nothing must stand in the way of complete control. For the Chinese government that means any dissenters, be they ordinary citizens rebelling against tyranny or Chinese billionaires who risk all to criticize government be rewarded with the death sentence of life imprisonment.

 

The Taliban, not the least bit squeamish over distinctions of applying capital punishment for those who defy their theocratic dictatorship, simply slaughter those who stand in their way, those who make overtures to representatives of the democratic west, those who assume their protests will be allowed impunity. The hushed world looking in at the implosion of yet another country whom violent Islamists have destroyed, deplore the fate of women and girls once again imprisoned in their homes.

 

The Taliban with its links to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Pakistan intelligence service, employs the empty pantomime of  'peace talks' with the legitimate government of Afghanistan, its transparent intention to imitate such talks to appease outside critics while rampaging through the country attacking the Afghan national police and armed forces, sending suicide bombers to message civilians and foreign diplomats and NGOs that they will brook no resistance, expand the territory they control.  

Humvees belonging to Afghan Special Forces destroyed during heavy clashes with Taliban, Kandahar Province, July 13, 2021.

 

They now have complete control of Afghanistan's border crossings with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, China and Pakistan; Afghan government revenues from customs now in Taliban hands, as are the routes for trade. The Chinese Communist party in Beijing congratulates the Taliban on its demonstrated journey toward 'peace and reconciliation' with the government of Afghanistan which it is slowly and inevitably destroying. 

The Taliban leadership, however, is anxious for good relations with its neighbours to support its own legitimacy to claim itself the new government of Afghanistan, returning after an unfortunate hiatus. And China is only too happy to oblige, to legitimize its treachery. For a price, for nothing is ever as simple as it may appear. China, prepared to support the Taliban's rule giving it the opportunity to append a critical addendum; the Taliban must fulfill an obligation to China for China's full blessing.

When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed a nine-person delegation of the Taliban the opportunity to negotiate support for Taliban rule in exchange for an obligation to pledge non-support for Islamic separatist elements in Xinjiang making one contingent upon the other was timely and to the point. China through Mr.Wang stating its expectation the Taliban "play an important role in the process of peace, reconciliation and reconstruction" of Afghanistan. Even while the Taliban is actively engaged in destroying 'peace, reconciliation and reconstruction'.

 

This is not cynicism. This is diplomacy, Beijing-style. Where the U.S. and NATO failed because they attempted to destroy the ambitions of the Islamist Taliban and free Afghanistan from their anti-humanitarian shackles, what transpired was a "hasty withdrawal" concluding two decades of Western effort to pull Afghanistan up by its own bootstraps with foreign aid, investment, military strength and NGO efforts to democratize and opportunize the country to the benefit of its people. 

China's sequestration of its Uyghurs and other Muslims in 're-education' camps, to neutralize Beijing's fears of Islamist uprisings in Xinjiang province not a matter for the Taliban to raise in solidarity with other Islamist groups in a country hostile to their presence in the currently far-greater interests of Chinese support for Taliban rule in Afghanistan. So for the present the Taliban surrenders its support for and assistance to the Islamist insurgents in Xinjiang. All in good time, all in good time.

A guard stands in a watchtower in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 3, 2021