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Like Japan? Some context: I haven’t been following this at all for most of the last decade, but, some things don’t change. Kabul and the Northern Alliance area
by jl2718 5y ago
Like Japan?
Some context: I haven’t been following this at all for most of the last decade, but, some things don’t change. Kabul and the Northern Alliance areas have always been hard to win and hard to hold for the Taliban. They’re not above practicality, and they have common enemies in the border regions of the East and North-West. In the SouthWest, the Marine Corps had success in direct negotiations to combat the common enemy of drug trafficking warlords, which is the whole reason they gained support there in the first place, and similarly became the focus of US operations in the region as well. In this case, I’m not sure that makes sense, however, as the coalition government has, in the past, suffered accusation of influence from these outside enemies. It’s not a stretch to think of them as a financial empire, and unlike the US, most Afghans have stronger ties to their tribes than their 401k.
- tablespoon 5y ago>> That would be like the US, in 1944, negotiating a peace to end to WWII that left Hitler in power. > Like Japan? Sorry, I meant more like late 1944/1945, after D-day and past the point where a negotiated peace offered any clear benefit. > Some context: I haven’t been following this at all for most of the last decade, but, some things don’t change. Kabul and the Northern Alliance areas have always been hard to win and hard to hold for the Taliban. IIRC, provincial capitals in Northern Alliance areas are falling to them now. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/world/asia/the-insurgents-success-in-northern-afghanistan-is-an-ill-omen-for-kabul.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/world/asia/the-insurgents...: > Now, [the Taliban] have seized six cities in recent days, five of which are in northern parts of the country. And experts fear that if government forces are unable to stop their advances in the north, Afghanistan’s capital is more vulnerable than ever.