U.S. to Partner with Taliban...Instead of Killing Them
Where did *the Taliban* come from? When & how did they take power in Afghanistan about 3 decades ago? Factual answers to these questions may shed some light on our options in Afghanistan, where we've been, where we're going with them & why killing the Taliban in Afghanistan, as we've done, may not get us very far, depending on our objective(s).
My recollection is: we bombed Afghanistan back in 2001 because apparently the Taliban was protecting OBL and refused to give him up. Meantime, OBL, as it turned out, was living in Pakistan, in a mansion no less, for the past 9 & half yrs! and joined the not-so-dearly-departed earlier this month in Hell. So, now what?
Not claiming to have the answers. But, can tell you the following:
The Taliban or Taa-leh-baan, is a Pashtun tribe, that exists both in Afghanistan & more so in Pakistan. The Pashtuns are warlike & fiercely independent (call them nationalists) - their loyalties lie with their own Pashtun TRIBE & they like to operate autonomously.
But, the Taliban is Not Al-Qaeda (AQ). AQ is essentially & comparatively a foreign organization, which mostly consists of Wahhabi & Sunni ARABS.
Furthermore, it we could bear in mind that the Taliban & their harsh, fundamentalist Islamic ideology were not a native product of Afghanistan. The Afghans themselves mostly have strong mystical leanings, akin to Sufis. Taliban's Islamic practices & beliefs were imposed on Afghanistan by those coming from Pakistan, who were supported by Others.. Zbigniew Brzezinski ring a bell? At the time, "the Taliban" in Afghanistan were known by a different name i.e. "Mujahedin" who were trained & armed to fight the Soviets. When the Soviets left, "the mostly (Pakistani) Taliban stayed, and we in the West were perfectly OK with them & their fundamentalist Islamic ideology until after 9/11. Even then, "the Taliban" weren't responsible for 9/11 atrocities. According to us, the culprits were ALL Arabs who were part of AQ!
Because bargaining with Hitler had such a good outcome in 1942....
oh wait...
Additionally, the Karzai regime is so corrupt, incompetent, and without widespread popular support the country will splinter again along tribal lines once we pull out. Afghanistan is a cultural, political, and religious basket case and always was. We blew our opportunity to succeed there long ago. Now we are just repeatedly playing the somber tune of "Bleed, Bleed, Bleed" while our finest are maimed and die in that hopeless 3rd World hell hole peopled either either by Muslim fanatics or those who simply want to be left alone to their tribal ways.
We might as well partner up with the bad guys to make the best deal possible, get out, and stop expending our military and resources. We need to save them for wars looming in more strategic places including on this side of the ocean.
Bring the troops home to rest and refit and put them on our own border. We will very soon need them here.
??? Where you been? Our administration Is the enemy.