O
Brian Ross wrote on Apr 16
th, 2021 at 11:02am:
Hopefully the Taliban will have learnt a few lessons and will abide by the agreement they sign with the Allies and their Government. One of a prime motivators of the insurgency has been the presence of foreign troops on Afghan soil. With their withdrawal the place will settle to the low-level intertribal warfare that has existed there for thousands of years. I hope the Afghan Government will continue to exist in it's present form and protect the rights of women there.
You are an idiot, Bbwian. Always keen to show off, always making a fool of yourself.
Mk
The British experienced a disaster as they withdrew at the end of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42). They had secured an agreement with the ancestors of today’s Taliban that they could leave unharmed. While retreating over the mountain passes outside Kabul, 4500 British soldiers and 12,500 civilians were murdered by local fighters.
After the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Winston Churchill wrote of Britain’s exploits, “Financially it is ruinous. Morally it is wicked. Militarily it is an open question, and politically it is a blunder.” Nothing has changed. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British and the Russians all uncovered the same secret to Afghanistan — it is easily invaded but impossible to control.
Yet it was the policy of Lord Curzon, Britain’s former viceroy of India, who implemented a cunning combination of tribal patronage with multiple agreements that as long as the tribes did not interfere with India, Britain would leave the tribes to conduct their own affairs.
The latest assessment by the UN’s analytical support and sanctions monitoring team found al-Qa’ida is active across 12 Afghan provinces with an estimated 400 to 600 operatives throughout the country. This includes Oruzgan, where Australia had operational control. Al-Qa’ida even has been running terrorist training camps in Helmand and Nimroz. According to al-Qa’ida newsletter Thabat, the group regularly conducts attacks across Afghanistan.
The team at the US-based Long War Journal, one of the most insightful bunch of analysts focused on Islamist terror and insurgencies, has been tracking al-Qa’ida’s presence in Afghanistan for more than a decade. Data collated by the LWJ from US military, NATO and Afghan security forces publications along with statements from jihadist groups shows al-Qa’ida has been operating in Afghanistan for years with the approval of the Taliban. It’s enough to make you cry.
Jason ThomasLong War Journal https://www.longwarjournal.org/