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The results of the US withdrawal make it pretty obvious that the Taliban as an organization were in hiding rather than defeated, and probably had backchannel co
by crooked-v 5y ago
The results of the US withdrawal make it pretty obvious that the Taliban as an organization were in hiding rather than defeated, and probably had backchannel communications going with local leaders the entire time the US was there, given that at least some of the rapid takeover of the country again seems to have come from pre-negotiated surrender agreements.
- dogma1138 5y agoThey suffered many losses and run back to Pakistan to regroup, sat there for over 15 years and when the US began to withdraw they pretty much took Afghanistan back without a fight. To finish them off the US had to invade Pakistan or make it so costly for them to support the Taliban that they would have to give them up and they weren’t willing to do that for obvious reasons.
- themihai 5y agoSo the U.S. couldn't defeat the Taliban because Pakistan didn't allow it. I must say that I didn't the U.S to be deterred by Pakistan.
- sailfast 5y agoAfghanistan has a long history of clans based on warlords working for whomever seemed to be winning. “The Taliban” in this regard seems to me to be the group under which the warlords decided to congeal, rather than somehow being the same people hiding for two decades. It’s a simple matter of the way the wind is blowing. The same people who were there ruling under US occupation are now ruling as Taliban - same game with a different name. Highly recommend Steve Coll’s work on this topic.
- Sebguer 5y agoBackchannel? We literally signed the peace agreement with them last year, with our withdrawal being one of the conditions: https://apnews.com/article/terrorist-attacks-donald-trump-ap-top-news-qatar-doha-491544713df4879f399d0ff5523d369e https://apnews.com/article/terrorist-attacks-donald-trump-ap...