Endless Conflict

The Taliban have militarily occupied Afghanistan, including Kabul, its capital. The collaborationist government of Ashraf Ghani supported by the US and the major powers of Western Europe fled quickly and shamefully.

For one thing Ghani’s government was an elected one. In reality, it was the Americans themselves who withdrew their troops and gave the green signal to the advance of the Taliban.

All Afghan government officials and all people and forces who have had a relationship with the previous regime are fearing for their lives and fleeing in terror. Many lost their lives in stampede.

All those who are not supporters of Sharia law, and especially women, are helpless in the face of Taliban violence and authoritarian rule. After 20 years burqa is back. So is Mullacracy in its worst form. The religious policemen are said to be knocking at every door to announce Shariat restrictions on women.

The mass emigration from Afghanistan, which began a month ago following the announcement of the withdrawal of the US, has reached a high peak with the tragic scenes seen when the Taliban entered Kabul. People are fanatically trying to escape their own country. What a tragedy! The Kabul airport is overflowing with people. There have been deaths of people who have fallen from the undercarriage of planes, which they grabbed onto in order to leave the country. Cars heading to Iran and Tajikistan have caused pile-ups on the highways. Meanwhile, the twin suicide bombings near the Kabul airport on August 26 underscored the devastating power al-Qaida and Islamic State-Khorasan (the Afghan affiliate of IS) still have to inflict mass casualties in spite of the American efforts. Two explosions claimed by the IS-K that killed 79 Afghans including at least 13 American service members definitely bolstered fears that the nightmare was fast becoming a reality. It was the first American casualties in Afghanistan in 18 months and the deadliest day there for the US military since 2011. US media, however, including the New York Times, cited health officials saying the airport blast had killed up to 170 people, not including the American troops. Created six years ago by a section of disgruntled Pakistani Taliban fighters, IS-K is reported to have vastly increased the pace of its attacks this year. They have some differences with the Taliban but the Taliban leadership has been silent so far about the IS-K attack.

The reason for all this misfortune is the simultaneous dissolution of the puppet regime, when the withdrawal of US paved the way for the Taliban to seize power while the people were disorganised and defenseless. The mass migration that has been directed towards Turkey via Iran for some time now will begin to slow down when the Taliban begin to control the borders, but the bloody drama in Afghanistan will not stop.
The United States is on its way out, abandoning large sections of its collaborators who fear for their lives.

This is not the first time that America has done this. The US administration also abandoned its trusted lackeys in Vietnam after the victory of the communist forces. They do not concern themselves with what they leave behind or with the hardships to which the peoples have been forced; the only thing they are interested in is plundering the wealth of the region and supremacy in the struggle against their rivals for hegemony.

It was just yesterday that they armed and organised the Taliban in Pakistan to fight the Soviets. Once the latter declared that they "have interests of their own" and acted against the United States, the Pentagon began the sophisticated war against them. Once again, they came to an agreement and abandoned it.

Neither the USA, or any Western Power, considers the good of any country in which it intervenes directly or through its proxies; they do not seek to defend democracy, but to impose their diktats to oppress the peoples and plunder their natural resources. In the exercise of their interventionist policy, they act alongside the most reactionary cliques, the powerful local economic groups, the kings, the Sheiks and warlords.

Following the departure of America and its European allies from Afghan territory, other regional players, such as Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, are talking about establishing good diplomatic and political relations with the Taliban , in a clear demonstration of occupying the abandoned space and strengthening their positions in world geopolitics.

The Afghan people are facing an ultra-reactionary confessional government; the fight for the rights of the workers, women and children is a fundamental demand; despite the fact that the Taliban say they will respect the rights of the population, particularly women, facts have already shown otherwise. The struggle of the people to achieve social and national emancipation today has bread, freedom and democracy as important banners of struggle.

Biden now faces tragedy he vowed to avoid. It was exactly what President Biden feared most. At the time of writing he was facing flak from both Republicans and Democrats for his failure to evacuate the beleaguered Americans on time. Interestingly, only the other day Biden said the Taliban appeared to be interested in co-operating with the US. The earth is round after all!

In a desperate bid to minimise humiliation American forces destroyed their fortified CIA base—Eagle Base—outside the Kabul Airport to ensure that any equipment or information left behind would not fall into the hands of the Taliban. Peace is unlikely to return to this war-ravaged country anytime soon.

29-08-2021

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Frontier
Vol. 54, No. 11, Sep 12 - 18, 2021