I wouldn’t be too sure of that. The Taliban cut opium production by 99% the last time they were in power. They used an iron fist to do so, drug users were routinely put to death.
The allure of the financial benefits of the drug trade must be tempting to the Taliban, but don’t forget that they are religious fundamentalists at the end of the day with a strong hatred of illicit drug use.
Sorry.. from the Taliban leadership. I don't know who is giving the Taliban leadership orders. They were in China last week... possibly unconnected.
Under orders from who , Pakistan ,Saudi ????
If the get the information left behind and drones they would be happy alright and pay good price for it.
The Taliban banned poppy growth in the 90's. It only started gaining again after the were overthrown.
However, over the last ten years they've apparently been using it as a source of funding. So who knows.
Not sure about that. I think production went up something like fourfold while the US was in the country.
Anyway, Chinese fentanyl is the future, at least as far U.S. drug consumption is concerned. (The Opium Wars are not forgotten in China.)
Al Jazeera reported that the Taliban are under orders to ensure a 'smooth transition' of power. However, they also reported that the Taliban has a target list of people it wants... former government ministers and such. If they are on the blower to the CIA, they are likely asking for those people to be handed over.
History repeating itself. Poppy cultivation will increase significantly to feed the global heroin market.
There are 6,000 US troops there. A bit foolish for the Taliban to fire on US troops.
I wonder are the Taliban under instructions not to attack the US forces still there at the airport. It will still only take one young lad to fire at a US soldier and you've got absolute carnage (even more so). The Taliban leaders may be struggling to control them at this stage. They will be in a frenzy.
If the airfield is flooded with people there will be no flights in or out at all. The US troops won't be able to get out at all. You'd have to imagine there are CIA on the ground or on the blower to the Taliban leaders right now.
The Pentagon and the U.S. political establishment speaks with a forked tongue. Madeleine Albright, another MIC ghoul, appointed by Clinton IIRC, responsible for starving an estimated 500,000 babies to death through sanctions on Iraq, and notorious for saying to a journalist 'It was worth it' when confronted on the point, was on Twitter tonight warbling about 'saving lives' in Afghanistan.
On the question of why Biden continued w/ the 'Trump' policy. Where the MIC is concerned there is only a Uniparty. I'd bet all the opium in Afghanistan that neither President had any say in the matter.
Yeah none of this would be happening if The Donald was still in the White House
I think it's more the manner of it.
The optics are these lads with towels on their heads, horses and camels took over the country with no resistance. That was an intentional policy position. It didn't have to be that way, they could have stretched it out over a few weeks, got the people out who needed to leave instead of this last minute chaos.
The Taliban taking back control of Afghanistan on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 is a gigantic own goal for Joe Biden and the democratic party of the United States.
Two months a go...
This is why the Taliban have more support amongst the Afghan population than we would like to admit. As a people, they are already strict adherents to Islam. So, the Taliban aren't the crazy loons to them that we see them as in the West. It's all too easy to imagine a couple of Taliban members rocking up to the local hamlet and giving a speech about how they're kicking out the Great Satan and that they're going to do brilliant things for the locals. It would be relatively easy to pull the wool over the eyes of the average poorly educated Afghan goat herder.
It's the parish pump politics equivalent in South Asia.
Not the sharpest pin in the pin cushion. Benidorm wasn't good enough for him.
Indeed.
People shouldn't be surprised the Afghan Government and military imploded too. The manner in which the US Government approached the negotiations with the Taliban was shocking in regards their treatment of their allies during the whole process. The Afghan Government were locked out of the negotiations, they weren't consulted on the withdrawal of military personnel and the US military abandoned the likes of Bagram airbase without even notifying the ANA or Afghan Government. The US Government promised to continue providing air support and special forces assistance, but that commitment was watered down in the last few weeks. Is it any wonder the Afghan Government and military just melted away given the fact that they were utterly abandoned by their allies? Why keep fighting? Their entire training over the last two decades was built around the concept of continuing to receive co-operation and support from the US military. Then the rug was pulled from beneath them at the final moment. Yes, that support was meant to be wound down over time but it was never meant to be ended abruptly as has now happened.
Yes, Trump oversaw the negotiations with the Taliban but Biden followed through with the shameful treatment of his allies. The whole thing has been an utter disgrace.
I also don't buy this 'if not now, when?' argument. The US continues to have a military presence the world over to safeguard their interests and bolster their allies. Look at Germany post-WW2 and South Korea today. The US embarked on a nation building exercise in Afghanistan. Whether that was right or wrong is a whole other debate, but the fact is they embarked on the process and that process takes decades. They got fed up with their project and decided to abandon their allies, leaving many, many Afghan nationals in danger who they convinced to join in their nation building exercise. A shameful moment in US history which won't be forgotten by their allies the world over.
Someone was complaining on Al Jazeera earlier about the open support some Pakistani politicians have been showing for the Taliban.
Thats a good description of it.....leave the Cities, and you travel back in time. especially in terms of how thinking has not changed. Vast regions dont have any population, and any populations that do exist are grouped around water supplies, generally rivers or well's. But travel and transport has improved...motorcycles being the most popular, but 4 x 4's and heavy trucks are now a common sight, even in the most rural places. Generators are still the main suppliers of electricity, and computers are increasingly being used, albeit not in large Nrs. A lot of the younger rural dwellers who have spent time in the cities, working and then returning home are bringing some modernisation with them..early days yet, but its an improvement. But easy to see how a relatively small nr of heavily armed Taliban travelling in convoys could take vast areas of the countryside in a short time un-apposed.
Agreed on W deserving more blame. His reinvention as a likeable old chap that loves to paint is pretty sickening. That whole family is creepy as fook, going back generations.
But wasn't there a plan laid out by Rumsfeld and Cheney and Wolfowitz before the invasion and before 9/11? 'Project For A New American Century,' IIRC.
The Afghans probably haven't "enjoyed" life under leadership of the past 40 years. But the Taliban can point to its leaders and say that "these are your guys" to ordinary people. The likes of Akundzada or Baradar were born in Afghanistan and the former is hailed as the guy who kicked out the Russians and will no doubt be hailed as the guy who kicked out the Americans too.
Compared with Russian or American backed puppets, it's easy to understand why the Taliban are gaining so much easy ground in the country.
Only anecdotal of course, but I was speaking to two Pakistani friends of mine (who live in Pakistan), who you'd think are moderates - both of whom are delighted that the Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan.
Their support for the Taliban is two-fold; first, the strict adherence to Islam and, second, the anti-US nature of their approach.
Most of the Muslim world view the Taliban not as extremists, but as simply strict adherents to the true religion. So, they have a what's the problem; kind of approach. Most Muslim-majority countries offer a version of Sharia anyway, so what's the problem if the Taliban are just slightly more strict? You get the idea. Anything is better than a US-backed government etc.
Both of these friends are against ISIS and Al Qaeda, but have no problem whatsoever with the Taliban.
Himself and Biden both deserve a lot of blame for this. George W deserves more though for invasions without a strategy. What a waste of lives.
The Pakistanis must be laughing their arses off.. another malign influence in Afghanistan.
Yeah. It's horrible to read stuff like that. Listening to an ex translator on the One o'Clock news today was hard too.
Aljazeera site updates on what is going on every so often.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/15/taliban-continues-advances-captures-key-city-of-jalalabad
Heartbreaking stuff. Awful. Hopefully she can get out somehow.
Oh well at least the Afghans can celebrate their weddings now without some fatso in a gaming chair at the pentagon droning it before taking a break for his big mac.
And America and Britain can console themselves by sailing their obsolete old warships around the South China Sea...and pray that the Chinese continue taking pity on them and don't decide to sink the whole lot as a final humiliation 😂
Speaking of Donald Trump, he has recently released this statement about today's events:
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![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://wd.vanillicon.com/v2/df05300f57fe28ddd3330602c0adbfdb.svg)
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