Gen. Milley says Taliban appear to have ‘strategic momentum’

The Taliban appear to have “strategic momentum” in the fight for control of Afghanistan as they put increasing pressure on key cities, setting the stage for a decisive period in coming weeks as American forces complete their withdrawal, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday.

“This is going to be a test now of the will and leadership of the Afghan people — the Afghan security forces and the government of Afghanistan,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon press conference.

The Pentagon says the U.S. withdrawal is 95% finished and will be completed by Aug. 31. And while the Biden administration has vowed to continue financial assistance and logistical support for Afghan forces after August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the focus of U.S. military efforts there will be countering terrorist threats, not the Taliban.

Speaking alongside Milley, Austin said the U.S. will “keep an eye on” al-Qaida, the extremist network whose use of Afghanistan as a haven for planning the 9/11 attacks on the United States was the reason U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001. …

Keen sense of the obvious, that one.

You betcha! I bet he was the very first recipient of the NSS medal for stating the obvious. The big question though Gen. Milley, do they have a program in effect to recognize their LGBTQRTXYZ mental defectives and a program in place to teach CRT? Because without those programs you push on American soldiers the Taliban will probably win.

Then how did Atatürk manage it in Turkey?

That is a good counter-example, but several important distinctions can be made.

Most importantly, Ataturk was a Turk. If he were an Amarican, or a Brit or a Frenchie, or even perceived as such, it wouldn't have worked out.

Also important, Turkey is a comparatively historically cosmopolitan center used to interacting with the outside world and not always in an adversarial manner. Having been a major player in the Ottoman Empire makes a big difference.

Ataturk also emphasized Turkish/national identity in culture and language, which would not offend local Muslim sensibilities.

Of course, you could counter that Kabul circa 1960 was more like the secular Turkish state than the Taliban dominated version today. 30 years of fighting with the USSR and the USA likely makes a sell on the basis of material wealth and modernization is a much harder sell now.

Back in the 1930s, historian Hilaire Belloc predicted that Islam would undergo a resurgence as a response to modernity, even though at the time it seemed a primitive, feeble laughing stock.

Still, besides Afghanistan, I don't see the 95%+ Islamic countries as having a secular Constitution. Israel's explicitly Jewish State provides a nice excuse, and since the time of Ataturk, secularism has foisted abortion, feminism and LGBTQetc. on us. It is much harder to be an evangelist of secular values to a people with a strongly defined moral code on that basis. Ataturk had it easier.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.