I don't know.
Last time they were in charge, they "levied" taxes on the areas they controlled...Farmers, business people, imports / exports etc. All paid taxes. But as to buying them off?? How do you mean?
Montenegro fell into that trap with their freeway. The debt ended up being higher than the country's revenue.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/28/1010832606/road-deal-with-china-is-blamed-for-catapulting-montenegro-into-historic-debt
Europe has refinanced the loan. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-montenegro-debt/montenegro-in-final-phase-of-talks-with-europe-to-cut-china-debt-idUSKCN2DT1RS
I have seen that in a number of African airports in the last year, lovely new terminal buildings but there is a missing stretch of concrete so aircraft can’t use it, my guess is that the Chinese are waiting for final payment before they add the concrete.
I'd say that is more to do with what happens to the present mining contract they have if or when the present Govt collapses.The Chinese do great deals only for the Chinese......they offer great loans to Countrys who cannot afford to upgrade or build new ports ( Ports being their favourite, but also anything else that gives them a foot hold in any Country they are interested in. Then in default, when the Country cannot meet the repayments, they step in an activate a clause that gives them exclusive control of the facility for X Nr of years. Which will have been build by them using Chinese labour, and when they take over, will be staffed with Chinese. And all perfectly legal.
The bottom line an the Taliban be paid off for their "Protection". Can a tribe like that grasp that notion.
China has apparently reopened talks with the Taliban regarding Mining. But unfortunately from watching China dealing with Africa, they appear to bring nothing to the local economy and don’t hire the local workforce.
After the Russians ( and the Americans) left, all of the tribes and clans who had fought together to oust the Russians, turned on each other to the extent that had the Taliban not intervened, what was left of the Afghan cities after the Russian / Afghan war, would have been destroyed completely. They were welcomed initially, as they restored the peace, and brought stability and security to the part of the Country they controlled. And now these self same tribes and clans will wheel and deal to make the best of the present situation for them selves. So the Taliban didn't have to fight for all the land they are now claiming. Meetings were held, discussions took place,and agreements were made.Had all the cash and material that the US pumped into Afghanistan made its way to where it was actually intended for, then you can be sure that the Taliban would not be getting so many easy walk overs....but for many Afghans, especially in the rural areas, a deal with the Taliban might make better sense to them,and of course you have the religious obligation to remove the infidel invaders. So maybe you will have the Norther Alliance organizing a region in the North, but in the major cities? Kabul? Mazar-i Sharif? Herat? The resistance in the cities will come from powerfull individuals, who literally stand to lose everything if the Taliban take full control again. The Taliban followed Mullah Omars directive when it came to the poppy dealing...he turned that tap on and off when it suited him. Will be interesting to see who will control it now, and what they will do with this cash crop.
There is only so much support that they can provide with B52’s. Remembering that the Taliban actually reduced the production of poppies, I can see the northern tribal leaders going against them as they won’t want to be stopped again. As for the main cities, with a population of 30 million people, surely it’s up to them to fight for their future.
Yes they have even now removed most of their physical military presence , but they did say that they would continue to defend their interests /allies there.....so I guess that will mean long distance strikes. The "warcry" and propaganda of the taliban about removing foreign invaders and restoring Islam to Afghanistan rings hollow when the talibs are just invaders themselves, (ex Pakistani Madrassa's,) and why bring Islam to an already Islamic Country? Poor Afghani's.
They may have left but yet the US carried out airstrikes against Taliban position and also attacking and destroying equipment captured by the Taliban
Shared a meal with some young US officers who had done tours of Afghanistan. All of them were bamboozled as to what the endgame of the conflict would be. These guys weren't meatheads, all educated in West Point with good heads on their shoulders.
Afghanistan will be a trouble spot for years to come. Despite what their state media is saying, it's going to become a thorn in the side of China now, with a significant amount of pissed-off Uyghurs and Tajiks holed up in the northern part of the country. China was actually quite comfortable with the US picking up the security tab for the country for this reason.
What a mess
Sure it's quite telling that you have the UK defence minister saying that they would work with the Taliban if they take power. Meanwhile the group seems to be pushing on Kandahar from three directions.
Curiously enough, probably the West's foremost expert on Afghanistan is a Paddy. A chap from Wicklow called Michael Semple. Has lived between there and Pakistan for decades and speaks a number of the local languages.
Very interesting character and well worth a Google. Was in the employ of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (well his salary was being paid by them) when Micheál Martin was Foreign Minister and he was Deputy Ambassador at the EU embassy in Kabul. A real Lawrence of Arabia type.
He was kicked out of Afghanistan by the government apparently at the behest of the US as they held that he was in fact an MI6 officer conducting back channel negotiations with the Taliban against American policy.
One suggestion was about six months for the capital to be threatened. Previously it was imagined that it would be a few years based on the post Soviet withdrawal era. An indicator would be towns or cities falling.
Towns are under seige by the taliban they are not recieving any help from the air force
How long till they whole country is under taliban control
The US has plans to allow translaters and other other workers to go to the USA if they want in a few weeks
The American government simply got tired of spending money in that country after 10 years
Manic Moran wrote: » The other minor detail is if AQ are considered 'enemy combatants.' If so, there is no legal requirement that they be armed before killing nor that they be taken alive, unless they indicate a desire to surrender. He would have been treated as any other soldier on the premises.
patsman07 wrote: » I consider myself left wing. I used to hate when the word 'terrorism' was bandied about after 9/11 to excuse everything that the US/Britain/Israel decided to do. I always thought the word represented a refusal to even try to see where the other side is coming from. There are many groups, who are called terrorist groups, who could be negotiated with-IRA, UVF, Hamas, Tamil Tigers all had political aspirations and so could be negotiated with. Bin Laden, the taliban, ISIS are fundamentalist religious nutcases and unfortunately they can't be reached through reasoning. They are Islamic-fascists and deserve to be executed/killed. Their existence is a threat to our way of life, just ask the concert goers of Paris, Danish & French cartoonists, Madrid commuters, Salman Rushdie, the kurds, the women and girls of Afghanistan, or the former staff of the World Trade Centre. That said, Afghanistan should have been dealt with by a UN force made up of soldiers from neighbouring Muslim countries. The US was feeding the Taliban by going in themselves. Unfortunately it strengthened the links between pan-Arab/Persian nationalism and the Islamic faith.
joseywhales wrote: » I mean it's hypocrisy. We want justice but only if it's convenient. When it's not we will take extrajudicial killing. If you don't have ethical standards then your power is meaningless, you are just another animal surviving. You set the example for others to follow, you allow far more ruthless and baseless regimes justify their barbarism. Yes I think there should have been a trial.
Labaik wrote: » Happened a few months ago in the US. There were some states basically in martial law.
jmreire wrote: » Yes regardless of who he was or what he did, that would be the ideal. but I thought that he was killed in a firefight in that house in Abbotabad and they took his body and buried him at sea, in a strict Islamic tradition, with a cleric in attendance?
Gatling wrote: » Did you want him to have a trial ,he was responsible for multiple terror attacks around the world , a trail would have just been a propaganda coup for himself , better he took a 5.56 to the head and buried at sea , No grandstanding at trial of giving further calls to carry out attacks against the west and no memorial spot for similar persons to get all teary eyed and inspired by
joseywhales wrote: » Technically that was an assassination no?
Gatling wrote: » Still alive and well ..... Again no massacres of civilian protesters n Not this has anything to do with this thread other than whataboutery
Relax brah wrote: » The ISIS-Khorasan branch in Afghanistan are already incredible active and considered a serious threat. The same US military leadership withdrawing from the country have stated that they fear an ISIS stronghold across the country within two years. The taliban have been on the offensive against ISIS within the country so I don’t see any sort of collation, they would need to beat and remove the taliban which is impossible in Afghanistan (as previously demonstrated.)
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