President Biden has done something good: he’s pulling the American forces out of Afghanistan. After 20 years of war, with 2,500 Americans dead and 25,000 wounded, and the U.S. having spent more than a trillion dollars on this fiasco, all American forces will be out of Afghanistan by August 31. A report on the withdrawal’s effect on Afghanistan’s neighbors is here: “Taliban resurgence raises terrorism fears from Moscow to Beijing,” by Eltaf Najafizada, Faseeh Mangi and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Bloomberg, July 9, 2021:
The Taliban’s lightning-fast advance to control more territory in Afghanistan is raising alarms from Russia to China, as U.S. President Joe Biden’s move to withdraw troops disrupts a balance of power in South Asia that has held steady for about two decades.
At least 1,000 Afghan troops this week retreated into Tajikistan, prompting the country to mobilize an extra 20,000 soldiers to guard its frontier. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sought out assurances from the Taliban that it will respect the borders of Central Asian states that once were part of the Soviet Union, while neighboring Pakistan has said it won’t open its borders to refugees.
Putin has been hosting Taliban representatives in Moscow, who have assured the Russians that the Taliban will not, once it has taken over Afghanistan, attempt to expand its reach into the five Islamic “stans” — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan — where fellow Muslims might be inspired by the Taliban’s example to overthrow the Moscow-allied “secular” Muslims who rule those countries. Of course, such assurances mean little; right now the Taliban still needs to keep Russia satisfied; it may be another story when Afghanistan has completely succumbed to the terror group. And Putin, and the Central Asian leaders, know that very well.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who warned last week that the most pressing task in Afghanistan was “to maintain stability and prevent war and chaos,” plans to travel to Central Asia next week for talks on the country. Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the ministry, on Friday called the U.S. withdrawal “hasty” and said Washington must honor its commitments to “prevent Afghanistan becoming once again a haven for terrorism.”
The U.S. has rushed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and left the Afghan people in a mess, which further exposes the hypocrisy behind the pretext of defending democracy and human rights,” Wang Wenbin said at a briefing in Beijing.
Of course the Communist Chinese want the Americans to stay to hold down the Afghan fort, losing more men, materiel, and money, while keeping the Taliban down, and away from China – that is, with Xinjiang, where the terror group’s success might encourage pan-Islamic sentiments, that could possibly spill over into violence, among the persecuted Uighurs.
The Taliban will not allow “anyone or any group to use Afghan soil against China or any other countries,” Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, a senior official at the group’s political office in Doha, Qatar, said in a WhatsApp message Friday. “This is our commitment.”
Cum grano salis. Or perhaps Mohammad Suhail Shaheen’s remark deserves a whole salt mine. We’ll see just how little such “commitments” from the Taliban mean.
Biden on Thursday had insisted the U.S. military had achieved its goals in Afghanistan and would leave by Aug. 31, just shy of its 20-year anniversary after the deaths of 2,448 U.S. service members and about $1 trillion in spending. Yet the battle will go on for the people in Afghanistan and surrounding countries, threatening in particular the $60 billion in projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) right next door.
The chaos in Afghanistan could spill over into other countries and lead to regional turbulence,” said Fan Hongda, professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of the Shanghai International Studies University. “China does not want to take over the U.S. role, but hopes to facilitate regional peace and stability because it has interests in the region.”
China’s massive Belt-And-Road Initiative is the name given to a vast collection of development projects being, or planned to be, built by the Chinese, as well as to the investments by China in infrastructure built by locals; it is intended to stretch from East Asia to Europe, significantly expanding China’s economic and political influence. China does not want the headache – and the danger – of dealing with a Taliban state that would likely seal off Afghanistan from the Belt-And-Road Initiative of the Uighur-tormenting Chinese.
If the Taliban takes control of the country, as seems likely if no other outside power replaces the Americans, Chinese plans will need rethinking. China does not want a Muslim caliphate, not on its own border (a small stretch of Afghanistan, at Vakhan, borders China), nor does it want Muslim countries in the region — Pakistan and Iran, and the five “stans” of Central Asia — to be unsettled by a Taliban-run state on their borders. Beijing will now have to consider whether to replace the Americans in helping the Afghan army, and the local militias, to keep the Taliban at bay.
The Taliban have dramatically expanded their hold on Afghan territory in recent months, leaving the U.S.-backed government in control of little more than 20% of the country, according to data compiled by the Long War Journal. The insurgent group now holds 204 of 407 districts, up from 73 at the beginning of May, while the Afghan government only controls 74 currently. The rest are contested.
The latest news, as of July 10, is that 85% of the country is now in the hands of the Taliban. And each day brings fresh news of an onslaught on another province, and a takeover by the terror group, while Afghan Army soldiers are filmed, defeated or simply defeatist, meekly handing over their weapons to the bearded fanatics who want to turn the Afghan clock back to the 7th century.
While Russia worries about what a Taliban victory might mean for the five Central Asian “stans,” and China worries about the Taliban’s possible disruption of its Belt-and-Road plans, its effect on neighboring Muslim states, and its appeal to the Uighurs inside China, Iran has another worry. Shi’a Iran has been hosting talks between the Taliban and Afghan government officials, and has been pleased that the Americans, in its view, have been driven out of the neighborhood. But underneath the feigned unconcern about the Taliban’s takeover, the Iranians know that the Taliban consists of arch-Sunnis who regard Shi’as Infidels. And in 2001, it was only the arrival of the Americans that rescued the Shi’a Hazara from continuing to be slaughtered by the Taliban, as had been going on since the 1990s. It is not only the Taliban who have been killing Hazaras – so did the Afghan government – but the Taliban brought the murderousness to a whole new level, as in the mass slaughter of Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif in August 1998. Here is what the Talib Mullah Niazi, the commander in that city, who became the new governor of Mazar, declared from several mosques in the city in separate speeches:
Hazaras are not Muslim, they are Shia. They are kofr [infidels]. The Hazaras killed our force here, and now we have to kill Hazaras. (...)
If you do not show your loyalty, we will burn your houses, and we will kill you. You either accept to be Muslims [Sunnis]or leave Afghanistan. (…)
[W]herever you [Hazaras] go we will catch you. If you go up, we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair. (…)
If anyone is hiding Hazaras in his house he too will be taken away. What [Hizb-i] Wahdat and the Hazaras did to the Talibs, we did worse…as many as they killed, we killed more.
What if, after the Taliban takes over the country, it renews its assault on the Hazara, whom the group proclaims are “not Muslim, they are Shia”? Will Shi’a Iran simply watch as its co-religionists are slaughtered? Or will the Iranians be compelled to move their own forces into Afghanistan to protect their fellow Shi’a?
The Americans are on their way out, about 18 years later than they should have left Afghanistan. Good news. Even better news: if the American withdrawal leads to a Taliban takeover, that will be a problem, not for us, but for the three countries that happen to be America’s most dangerous enemies – Russia, China, and Iran.
Stay Away From Islam says
Yes the Russians and the Chinese know about the impending scourge of the Satanistic and horrifying effects of the death cult called Islam. They are so disappointed that the U.S. is getting out and not paying the bills regarding keeping the Neanderthals of the Taliban at bay. We know from the teachings of the Koran that any agreement with a non Muslim is a joke. Negotiations are agreements are merely a way to bide for time so that the Kafirs can be killed at a specific time.
gravenimage says
Actually, the Chinese are forging closer ties to Afghanistan now.
Raja says
Gravenimage,
I am looking forward to China’s Waterloo in Afghanistan.
gravenimage says
I doubt that China is actually going to try to civilize Afghanistan.
Infidel says
Yeah, that should be a fun project: Taliban vs Chicoms
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
If that happens, the Taliban will have met their match.
Chicoms are “not too worried” about human rights, etc., and Afghanistan sits on $1 trillion worth of minerals.
They could then treat the Taliban the same way that they are currently treating the Uighurs…
Infidel says
James
China could just slow-conquer both Afghanistan and Pakistan under their belt/road scams, and they’ll get their outlet to the Indian Ocean. Aside from them meeting their match, it’ll be fun to watch a population race b/w Han Chinese and trans-Durand line muslims. The Chicoms have already tried their Sinovac on Pakistan: they can continue by using those people as their guinea pigs, the way they’ve been using the Uyghurs
Infidel says
I agree w/ Hugh’s analysis on China and Iran., but disagree on Russia
In China’s case, the Taliban supporting Tehreek-e-Taliban and Pathan separatists in Pakistan would definitely disrupt the CPEC projects, which have been heavily protested by Balochis and Sindis, since it creates no employment opportunities for locals, but just exploits their natural resources for the benefit of the Chicoms. Not just that: while Imran Khan may look the other way on the persecution of Uyghurs, the average Paki muslims on the street are pretty incensed at this. While China may have Pakistan in its economic grasp, there is a significant section of Pakis who would be only too happy to kick them out, despite the fact that after that, Pakistan would have no-one willing to bail it out economically, and I’m not sure Turkey would be able to, even if they want to
In Iran’s case, there remains the issue of the Hazaras and the Hizb-e-Wahdat. The Hizb-e-Wahdat did for Iran in Afghanistan what Hizbullah does in Lebanon and Syria. On top of that, Iran also has historical ties to Herat and Mazhar-e-Sharif, both of which were historically major cities in the Samanid empire. In the 80s, Iran was overwhelmed by Afghan refugees fleeing from the Soviets: now they’d be overwhelmed by Hazara refugees fleeing from the Taliban, and their economy is far worse than it was then
However, I don’t agree that Russia has a reason to worry. For one thing, as I pointed out yesterday, the Taliban is, in addition to being a sunni theocratic party, also an ethnic Pashtun party that has little support among Afghan Tajiks, Turkmen or Uzbeks. So it’s unlikely that even islamic parties in those 3 countries will be inspired by or rally behind the Taliban. Not just that, the ex-Soviet stans have had a historical trend of gravitating towards their ethnic rather than their religious comrades, due to religion being particularly non-existent during Soviet times, but ethnicities getting importance. That explains why Azerbaijan, despite being a shi’a country like Iran and the same nationality as the Safavid rulers of Iran, is more aligned to Turkey, while Tajikistan, which is a sunni country like its neighbors and Turkey, still prefered shi’a Iran to those countries. Yeah, post 2014, Tajikistan has been a participant in Western sanctions against Iran, and in celebrating their Farsi ethnic identity, that country seems to be more celebratory of Zoroastrianism, even they consider the Samanid dynasty of Iran that was headquartered in Samarqand and Buqhara (both incidentally Tajik majority cities) their foundation. In other words, nothing that the Taliban does would influence a fifth column in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan, aside from a mass of ethnic refugees fleeing Afghanistan
So yeah, our withdrawal from Afghanistan will make things tricky for both China and Iran, and force both countries to pay more attention there. It will be hilarious if the PLA would now have to spend resources to prop up the Afghan government to the scale that the US had been doing, forcing them to lower the priority of their adventures in the China Seas. Also, nothing would be funnier than seeing the Taliban pay back Pakistan w/ interest: after 9/11, the Taliban in Afghanistan bore the brunt of US attacks while Musharraf got away playing both sides. Now, the Taliban stands to support a Pashtun insurrection in a Pakistan that’s economically in a worse state than even Somalia, while Afghanistan, which has been ‘re’-built by US, is at least relatively functional, unlike what it was in 2000
Raja says
Infidel,
Your last para is very absorbing, hope it is pay back time for Taliban and they destroy each other.
Remember Julio Ribeiro, ex police commissioner of Mumbai, had a hard time handling the local mafia which was spiraling out of control and it is said that he caused a wedge between the gangs like they do in Argentina etc that Mumbai witnessed intense inter war gang rivalary and was brought under control.
But in the case of Taliban etc they will ensure that they kill each other for ages.
James Lincoln says
For the past few years, I have taken a winter vacation at the DOD military resort “Shades of Green” on Disney property near Orlando.
I always run into at least a few Iraq / Afghanistan combat-injured military veterans in wheelchairs, etc.
They are my heroes, but in the back of my mind I always wonder “what for”…
Infidel says
Were any of them wounded before December 2001? If yeah, then they were actually involved in the mission to exact justice for 9/11. But for the ones that were wounded after the fall of Kabul and Kandahar, your “what for” is absolutely spot on!
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
Yes, your clarification is “spot-on”…
gravenimage says
Sadly true, James.
Wellington says
Yes, James, what you and what Infidel stated. With you both and I don’t see how anyone of sense and knowledge can truthfully say, accurately say, “Mission accomplished.”
Keith O says
James, The wounded diggers I know asked the same question and one of them referred to the line from the movie “blackhawk down” when one of the characters was asked a similar question.
He said “you do it for the man standing next to you”.
And after 20 years in the infantry I can totally concur.
James Lincoln says
Keith O,
100% correct – and thank you for your service…
As a retired US Naval flight surgeon, during deployments, nothing was more important to me than my shipmates.
From Seaman Recruit to Flag, it made absolutely no difference to me…
Keith O says
James, Thanks for that acknowledgement, I have only been told that a couple of times and always find it hard to accept when it happens.
I joined knowing what was/could be expected of me and like all the diggers I served with we just got on with the job even though we knew the public didn’t like us.
Nobody loves a soldier, till the enemy is at the gates.
No One says
Biden will take credit for something President Trump started with a plan for withdraw, the mistake Biden made was not blowing up everything that was left behind and now that aids the warfare going on in that nation.
Infidel says
Trump, in the withdrawal, should have ordered the evacuation of all our military hardware, and not left them in the hands of the Afghan ‘national army’. Had he done that, they’d not be falling into Taliban hands right now
No One says
Do not blame President Trump for Biden’s stupidity, Trump would have had all our equipment that could be removed done so, what could not go and left behind had it destroyed.
You cannot blame President Trump at all, this was Biden’s doing
unbeliever1 says
With the Taliban now claiming to be a friend of China, it’s as though through the Muslim world has all but ignored the plight of the Uighurs.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/afghan-taliban-says-it-sees-china-as-a-friend-promises-not-to-host-uyghur-militants-from-xinjiang-report/articleshow/84295588.cms
Infidel says
Yeah! I just wish the Uyghurs would see the writing on the wall, recognize that islam was not their original religion, and revert to Buddhism and Shamanism, and make common cause w/ Tibet and Mongolia. I’d be fine w/ an independent Xinjiang if it totally de-islamized, and became a Buddhist country instead. They could get religious consulting from the Tibetans, if needed
Raja says
You have grossly underestimated the destructive powers of the world !!!!!
Peter says
I will any day choose Communism over Islam!
Infidel says
Except that today, they’re in bed together. Just look at Kerala
gravenimage says
True, Infidel.
Walter Sieruk says
That Joe Biden had ordered the US pullout from Afghanistan is an action that reveals the horrendous futility of this a tragic in many tragic ways.
After all the Americans who died and the many other who had been terrible wounded and over a trillion dollars of wasted American taxpayers money invested in that awful mayhem is also awful.
This is also tragic for the females natives in Afghanistan because with Islam, women will never have equal rights with men.
It will only become worse for women after the Taliban regains in power in that country.
For example, on the morning of April 17, 2019 on FOX NEWS television the subject was covered about the idea of having “peace talks “with the Taliban. Viewing the history of the Taliban when they were in power in Afghanistan and the brutal ruthless misogyny they had engaged in was both vicious and malicious to the extreme.
Therefore the question, naturally, was brought up, now that peace talks” might soon begin, the Taliban was asked if they return to power in Afghanistan “ would they respect female rights ?”
To that question the Taliban replied “that when back in power they would respect.
Women‘s rights but only to the limits of the cultural of will they permit those rights of women.”
The point is that the “cultural of Afghanistan” is really the religion of Afghanistan, which is Islam.
Therefore the reality is that female rights, for both girls and woman, will not exist in a future Taliban controlled Islamic state of Afghanistan. For Islam is a religion of harsh and malice- filled misogyny.
As explained in the book, by Brigitte Gabriel, of the title THEY MUST BE STOPPED. Her book informs the readers on page 172. “Woman in Islam are considered unclean, deemed inferior even to dirt.”
gravenimage says
Even now over 75% of the women in prison in Afghanistan are in for “crimes” like trying to escape a forced marriage or flee an abusive one. And the goverment in powere there now has put *stoning* back on the books.
gravenimage says
After 20 Years In Afghanistan, It’s Goodbye To All That
…………………..
The US and coalition has been there about 19 years too long…
Walter Sieruk says
The last four words of this above jihadwatch article are “In Afghanistan, it’s goodbye to all that.” Likewise it’s also good by the women’s basic human rights when the Taliban restored themselves to power.
For the Taliban, when they have total power in Afghanistan they will rule that land by Sharia law which denies the rights of women because it’s full of brutal, cruel harsh and ruthless Islamic misogyny.
Furthermore, it should be made known that the actual origin of Sharia law is revealed in a Time –Life book with the title MESOPOTAMIA: THE MIGHTY KINGS copyright 1995. The point is this history book about the ancient pagan world of Mesopotamia informs the reader that “many Islamic laws resemble the Babylon and Assyrian forebears.” .page 150.
There is the above and other references imply that such pagan teachings were incorporated into the religion that Muhammad manufactured and then started.
Thus this further reveals that a lot of ancient paganism is part of the whole religion of Islam.
In other words, ancient paganism makes up much of Islam. Therefore Islam with is Sharia law are a hoax.
gravenimage says
Walter, please see my comments re women’s rights in Afghanistan just above.
roberta says
Do you all remember (before we went into Afghanistan) how the news and the politicians went on and on about the Afghni women having to wear the burka in the suffocating heat of that shiff hole.
They were trying to make us feel like we had the moral high ground to go there and save all of these poor suffering women.
What a crock. Where is that high ground today?
If these women are suffering so desperately and want no part in islamic traditions of burkas and cainings, why dont they kill their husbands in their sleep?
gravenimage says
Your idea that women can murder their husbands with impunity in Afghanistan is mistaken–generally this works the other way around.
Wellington says
A hell of a lot of those women, roberta, think they belong in burqas, that caning is “appropriate” for “immoral” women and that men are superior to them. Islam produces women aplenty suffering from Stockholm Syndrome on steroids and they also want the dirty kuffaar subservient or dead (or raped). Meanwhile, the idiotic Democrats (excuse the redundancy) in Congress have appropriated millions for gender education in Afghanistan. Mad world.
gravenimage says
Also grimly true, Wellington.
Walter Sieruk says
I did read it and it’s good that you made those horrible but true facts known.
roberta says
e says
Jul 12, 2021 at 10:18 pm
”Your idea that women can murder their husbands with impunity in Afghanistan is mistaken–generally this works the other way around.”
Dont know where that impunity thing came from. The women there are screwed either way. That’s islam. The women pay the heavy price.
If the women want to change the math on that: Kill the men while they sleep. If not, they are a part of the problem.
gravenimage says
I’m not sure that most women want to be murdered, roberta–but you can consider their not wanting to be murdered part of the problem if you so desire.
David M says
The interpreters who helped the Australian troops are already being killed. The remaining couple of hundred have asked my Australian government for evacuation out of the country, there is a base in Dubai they could be flown to & processed. They are not asking for entry to Australia, they are asking for evacuation before they are killed by the Taliban. My government’s response to them? No response.
gravenimage says
Not just Australia.
Infidel says
The interpreters should be moved to one of those Arab countries that were our allies, and settled there. I don’t want them settled in the west: some years ago, there was an issue in Colorado of an Iraqi refugee who went on to murder someone in the name of jihad, despite being helped out. Maybe hire them to our embassy staff in countries in the region – Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
David M says
Yes, that is all they are asking for. The Australian government hasn’t done it yet, we owe it to those interpreters. This is another example of “how low can you go” we are seeing from governments of the world, like making us wear non surgical face masks that say on the box : “this is not a medical item, It does not protect you from Covid 19 or any other disease.” To force people to wear a cloth mask that obstructs breathing & causes carbon dioxide poisoning & bacterial pneumonia is a disgrace I never thought I would see in a western country.
commonsense says
Amen. Muslims do not belong here, because Islam does not belong here.
gravenimage says
True, Infidel.
peace says
Lets face it ,,, it’s Islam folks, the only thing thats changed since the 7th century is the internet,, we all get pictures, political lies, stories, & garbage delivered to our pockets on a daily basis … That’s how we know what’s going on ..
I expect the Russians and the Chinese get on with selling arms to whoever has money and all the different flavours of Islam believing they are the “true workers of god” get on with persecuting everyone else ….
In otherwords it’s going to turn into a huge shit fight where womens rights are the smallest issue …
It’s going to get mean, and it’s going to get ugly and hopefully with this advanced communications we now all have, it will make the world realise what a dangerous scourge Islam actually is ……..
Richard Steinberg says
Infidel, your comments reveal such knowledge and insight that it is to be hoped that you will be offered opportunities to post your own articles here at Jihad Watch, if you wish to do so.
Infidel says
Thank you, Richard! I’m humbled
Wellington says
I agree with Richard, Infidel. You have demonstrated to many here at JW that you are in command of a great deal of knowledge and you marshal it well via your comments.
gravenimage says
Agreed, Richard. Infidel is one of the most knowledgeable posters here. I have learned a lot from him.
Raconteur says
US has been double crossed by the Pakistanis but they think by paying the main culprit was wrong strategy from day one
Christine fair clearly points out that Pakistan is not a security seeking state but an ideological state
as reflected clearly in its defense literature and derived strategic culture
She references Charlie Glaser work to define ideological state as
1)fundamentally dissatisfied with status quo desiring additional territory even when it is not required for security
2)pursue revisionism to spread ideology
Reference Watch below video 14:00 to 25:00
Above points mentioned at 23:16
https://youtu.be/G3DIOjTmX0M