(15e) Afghanistan, 50 years of hell and no end in sight
Since before August 2020 and still, many discuss America's involvement in Afghanistan as the USA retreated from Afghanistan, together with its allies. Certain people voice happiness as the USA seems to be defeated and they hope the USA may collapse, just as the Soviet Union did not long after it retreated from Afghanistan, and as many other empires did before in that troubled country. For the world, I hope the USA is not defeated as a power as we still need it (without saying the USA never made mistakes such as support of dictators). Publications condemn the West for having left Afghanistan and even suggest the Russians were not as bad as Western policies. I do agree we should have help Afghans who helped the West during the occupation as these people are now at the mercy of the Taliban. But, I do not agree that we need to provide help when people didn't accept freedom when it was in the country and even fought against it and killed Western soldiers.
In this publication I start about 50 years ago and will end today and tomorrow whereby I write as I remember what happened during the past five decades although I did some research to include links. This article and this timeline are good summaries of the past while Wikipedia is as always also useful. It shows the country has been in a mess because people in Afghanistan cannot stand each other and therefore kill. The USA left to avoid its own collapse as that would be catastrophic for the world.
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| Afghanistan and neighbours. On the right in the picture, Afghanistan has also a short border with China |
USSR invasion - before, during and afterwards
In the 1960s and early 1970s there was a period when Afghanistan's societies was more open and normal during which people were allowed to smile and enjoy life. In hindsight, it seems that many Afghans didn't agree as they were excluded and didn't enjoy the good life the elite lived, the reason for their growing opposition and in the end hatred of anything that makes life worth living.
In 1973, the Afghan monarchy was overthrown by Mohammed Daoud Khan (who was family of the king) and this with the support of Soviet-trained Afghan army officers so the first Afghan Republic was founded.
In 1978, President Khan's government was overthrown by Afghanistan's communist party (PDPA) that killed thousands of its Afghan opponents, including Daoud Khan and his family while it allied with the USSR and against Islam so this angered Muslims. In September 1979, during internal struggles, the number two of the PDPA, Hafizullah Amin killed the number one, Nur Muhammad Taraki and continued to kill many more who he considered opponents, including Muslims, so he lost any credibility from the Afghan population. The Soviet Union (USSR) was also afraid that the new leader wanted closer relations with the USA, and thus the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, murdered the leader Amin and helped the PDPA to remain in power under Babrak Karmal who was replaced in 1986 by Mohammed Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret police, following the same principle as the USSR used in Eastern Europe: do as told or we bring order. Most countries in the UN voted against this Soviet intervention. And, of course, many Afghans, and certainly Muslims who were heavily prosecuted under Communist leaders, didn't agree with the Soviet invasion.
The USSR was able to take main roads and cities but not all of Afghanistan as there was heavy resistance by a number of smaller groups, known as Mujahideen, who were mainly trained in Pakistan where they had escaped the terror by their own leaders. The USSR bombed many villages to prevent that insurgents or Mujahideen could hide there, destroyed the country's infrastructure, while they placed millions of landmines. All of this with long lasting consequences.
A detail: Long before the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, Pakistan had already disputes with Afghanistan over the Durand Line, the border between both countries that was not recognised as such by Afghanistan's PM Daoud Khan who wanted to reunite Afghanistan with lost regions; as a result this brought a never-ending war on his country. In this dispute, the Americans sided with Pakistan to which they sold weapons while Afghanistan bought weapons from the Soviet Union and India.
Still, although the USA and Pakistan in general were on the same side in conflicts, they continue to distrust each other up to today. Indeed, some in Pakistan hope their own country will continue to go further in the direction of a more extreme Islam whereby they don't hesitate to use violence against civilians and politicians who condemn this extremism, resulting in e.g. the murder of Salman Taseer who spoke out against blasphemy laws while his murder was celebrated by extremist clerics and their supporters, people who accept that certain prophets were important because they changed or stopped old religions and thus they were considered to be blasphemers in their time. The current battles between all these Muslim groups (such as Shia, Sunni, Taliban, Isis (or Daesh), ...) is almost similar as in the time of Prophet Muhammad when there was also a fierce competition between people of different religions until Muhammad forced them to accept a new religion, i.e. Islam. Will also todays old religions collapse due to internal and external rivalry?
As the USSR was involved, of course also the USA became involved as did other countries such as the UK, China, Israel and the Arab kingdoms in the Persian Gulf whereby they financed the rebels who they praised for their resistance against the expansion politics of the USSR. Whether the USA directly supported the insurgents or via Pakistan is under discussion.
But, above-mentioned countries were not the only non-Afghans involved, also foreign Mujahideen fought in Afghanistan against the USSR. It is not sure whether they too received funding from the USA, directly or indirectly. But, it is sure that one of these groups had Osama bin Laden as its leader, a heavily loaded name in the USA as will be discussed below.
Finally, starting in 1988 and ending in 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan government, still Communist under President Najibullah, on its own against the insurgents until the fall of the Afghan government in April 1992 to the Mujahideen. Now Afghanistan's civil war continued between the different Mujahideen fractions with another hundreds of thousands of civilian killed until the Taliban won and came into power in 1996; they hanged President Najibullah to conclusively end the communist era.
Taliban (1996 - 2001)
With the Taliban, more terror was to descend upon Afghanistan whereby especially women were victims although more generally, anyone who didn't want to live the life of hell. This included that listening to music and thus also dancing were forbidden while women had to cover themselves completely, including their eyes, with a burka at risk of being stoned when any skin was visible that may tempt men to misbehave, and thus they abused women.
These killings of especially women (e.g. when they may follow their heart to love another man than the one they are forced to marry) happened wherever the Taliban gained control until they were ousted by the Americans (see more below). Real terror by a group of men who do not forgive any mistake by people who are not part of their group or who are more intelligent and thus my challenge them, and certainly women were targeted.
Taliban versus prophets Moses and Jesus. The behaviour of the Taliban is much in contrast to examples from the past who are considered important prophets. Compare with a very old story of the prophet Moses who, against tradition, defended female shepherds at a well in Midian against male shepherds (Exodus 2,16-19: One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep and goats. But some shepherds drove Jethro's daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue and watered their animals for them).
The Taliban's behaviour towards women and sinners in general is also in contrast to their prophet Jesus as can be read in John 8,1-11 when Pharisees asked what to do with a woman who was caught in adultery and Jesus responded by saying that the person without a sin can throw the first stone to kill her; all were honest that they sinned and thus no-one threw a stone. In Afghanistan many women have been killed by stoning because they are women. But I know, those who do wrong are likely those who will find a text to illustrate that women are not at the same level as men.
Yes, because of their behaviour, Jesus and Moses were exceptional for the time in which they lived and even compared with certain societies and individuals today.
As the USSR was no longer in Afghanistan and Mujahideen were victorious, the USA retreated, at least publicly, from the region.
More on the Soviet-Afghan war on Wikipedia. Another possibility is to watch the movie "The Kite Runner" about Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and Taliban regime, a sad story about a destroyed friendships and guilt over betrayal of a friend who was abused because he didn't want to betray his master who he also considered as his friend. The Taliban and many in Afghanistan saw the rape of a boy and condemned homosexuality instead of condemn rape and abuse.
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| As written in the white box: Life only makes sense because of the human in us. Our humanity has life only through the direction we give it. |
American occupation of Afghanistan (2001-2021)
But, the retreat of the USA wouldn't last very long. Indeed, one of the foreign Mujahideen was Osama bin Laden, a terrible man and leader of al-Qaeda who is a hero for crazy people as they applauded his evil acts against the USA. Whether his group received direct funding from the USA during the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan is not clear, but he also searched actively for money during that war, partly to fund the fight against the Communist regime and USSR but, as became clear afterwards, also to fund terrorist attacks against the USA such as, but not exclusively, on American ground in 09/11/2001, now 20 years ago, that killed nearly 3000 innocent people in a couple of hours and changed the world. As bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan, it was obvious that US President Bush demanded the Taliban government to extradite bin Laden so he could be sentenced. As the Taliban regime refused and actively protected bin Laden so they can be considered as the political arm of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, it was only normal that the USA with its allies went to Afghanistan to capture or kill bin Laden. Protect evil and those to bring justice may come. Thus, the USA didn't invade Afghanistan because they wanted to occupy the country but because they had no other choice. Also the allies of the USA had no other choice but to help the USA as a NATO member but also friend was attacked.
German involvement in Afghanistan: This reminds me that the role of Germany in this war was very limited with fewer than 3400 soldiers and policemen as it still hides itself behind the fact that it can't have a proper army to protect others after the horrors of WWII and the terrible role of Germany in that war to exterminate not only Jews but many more. Does this explain some of the hate of part of American society towards Germany and as President Trump openly showed when he met Germany's PM Merkel, even today decades after the end of WWII? Are many Americans angry because Germany didn't send sufficient numbers of soldiers to Afghanistan to bring sacrifices to liberate other people? History is important to understand relations between nations and leaders.
And thus in 2001, the USA was back in Afghanistan and now directly involved. Although the USA first intended to go after bin Laden and friends, the task was more difficult than anticipated and it took nearly 10 years after the 9/11 attack before Osama bin Laden could be killed under President Obama. Later, also President Trump tried to reverse the course of the war by allowing the use of a megabomb. Both presidents Obama and Trump promised to bring back their military but it was not possible and President Obama even had to send extra troops in 2009 in the hope to defeat al-Qaida and the Taliban and prevent they would defeat the Allies. It failed. These extra troops were needed because in 2003 President Bush, who started the war in Afghanistan, decided to relocate American troops from Afghanistan to Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, and this major drop in troops in Afghanistan can be considered as the start of the defeat of the USA in Afghanistan since afterwards the Taliban grew only stronger until they could retake Afghanistan.
USA-Iraq wars: If only President George HW Bush had ordered his army to continue their advance towards Baghdad as more countries agreed with the first American-Iraq (or Gulf) war that liberated Kuwait after Hussein ordered the invasion of the country. But, maybe because President HW Bush thought he had again control over Hussein and his oil and gas fields, he stopped the advance after which Hussein claimed victory over his archenemy the USA and for this he regained some respect. Still, would it have been ethically acceptable if the USA continued to bomb a retreating Iraq army, even when this could mean the end of a dictatorship? And thus President George HW Bush ended the war. But, as a result, Hussein's army remained powerful enough so Hussein continued to massacre ethnic groups in Iraq (such as the use of chemical weapons against Kurdish people in North Iraq) and thus he continued to trouble the international community. Then, President George W Bush re-invaded Iraq to finish the war his father refused to end and Saddam Hussein's reign was over. But, as now the USA seemed to be the aggressor, fewer countries supported this and many Iraqis considered this as an occupation of their country and started killing American soldiers but also each other as civil war erupted.
During the time when Western troops were in Afghanistan, people in "occupied" (or liberated) places under protection of Western armies lived in relative safety whereby people were able to go out for a drink, listen to music and discuss politics. Women didn't need to cover their face while many had a job (such as in education and health but also in the police and jurisdiction) without fear for being killed. Billions of dollars were invested in the country to install democracy and improve the lives of Afghans but, due to corruption, hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared (to finance the return of the Taliban???).
That doesn't mean Afghans didn't suffer from the presence of Western troops as errors but also abuses happened. Indeed, a major error was the bombing of a marriage that killed 30 people, and such errors need to be investigated to prevent future similar errors. Other times however, military from the USA and other countries deliberately abused their powers to hurt Afghans. This is partly understandable in a war during which soldiers start to hate those they need to protect as some Afghans tried to kill them; however, soldiers should know that deliberately abusing and even killing innocent people is unacceptable and will be punished as such behaviour will turn more people against Western forces (but I accept, this is easy to say from behind my desk as I didn't lose mates in this war). Also human right organisations should distinguish between accidents (that indeed should be prevented) and murder so they can inform Afghans correctly instead of pointing their finger indiscriminately to the West for both errors and abuses because, it is important to prevent that the occupied turn against soldiers and those who try to help the occupier. Still, it is also unbelievable that many Afghans continued to think like the Taliban such as wounding and even (trying to) kill their own daughters instead of being proud they joined the police, army and justice against evil forces. And thus the evil ideology of the Taliban whereby they divide people between humans (men) and inferior humans (women) while they enforce their hateful sharia on people continues instead that people join forces to improve their country.
After negotiations with the Taliban started about the retreat of Western armies from Afghanistan, the numbers of attacks by extremists who were not yet in power increased, even in hospital against women and their newborn children. Monstrous. Still, many in but also outside Afghanistan blamed America for the terror; people are strange indeed, although I understand that trying to eradicate terrorists result in innocent victims and thus angry family and friends. The Trump administration nearly completely excluded the Afghan government from the negotiations with the Taliban; I think this was a major mistake because, as a result, this government didn't know what to expect and thus how to prepare. On the other hand, was the inclusion of Afghanistan's government possible or would that have resulted in no negotiations? Although, "negotiations" they can't be called as even the end date of 11/09/2021 for Western troops to withdraw was not respected by the Taliban so the Western retreat was in chaos and declared completed two weeks before the official date while not everyone could be evacuated such as many Afghans who supported Western troops during the occupation remained in Afghanistan and now fear for their lives as they feel abandoned by the West. And yes, that may anger some.
I think this illustrates that the withdrawal of American troops and those of allies was irreversible or the West would have lost the war. Indeed, even in the middle of the night American soldiers withdrew from one of their military airbases without informing the Afghan troops; something done when a war is lost. Who can be blamed for this hasty retreat?
First, the final months of President Trump are likely at least partly to blame. Indeed, not only did President Trump not involve Afghanistan's regime in negotiations with the Taliban about the withdrawal of American troops, he also refused to brief president-elect Mr Biden while he withdrew already thousands of soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. Thus, by the time Mr Biden became President he knew little about the negotiations with the Taliban and inherited smaller numbers of soldiers so the American troops were weakened.
As the numbers of American soldiers were down, the Taliban started to reconquer land they lost 20 years earlier and this likely resulted in demoralisation of Western and Afghan troops, together with the knowledge that American leaders are negotiating the withdrawal of Western troops. Thus, each day the Taliban saw they gained, they grew stronger while Western and Afghan troops became weaker until Western troops had to leave in a hurry to prevent their own collapse and a real victory for the Taliban.
But, there is a huge stain on the retreat from Afghanistan. Many Afghans tried to leave together with the Western troops that resulted in chaotic scenes at Kabul's airport. Indeed, it is negligence by the West that large numbers of Afghans who risked their lives to help Western troops were left behind, while the West knows the lives of those people are at risk. Already years before the chaos in August 2021, soldiers were asking their government to help Afghans who helped them and other Western soldiers as interpreters, an extremely dangerous job as those who were against the Western occupation consider them to be traitors. Even now, American soldiers are asking their government to help Afghans who helped them to survive Afghanistan. But this should also include men and women who worked as police, judges and some politicians as they too risked the anger of the Taliban and thus need to hide. It is indeed not correct to wait until the last moment so it is not possible to help those who helped Western troops to be save in Afghanistan.
Here an article that chronologically describes the most important events from 1999 until 2021.
Return of Taliban as rulers over Afghanistan (15/08/2021 till ?)
Although the Taliban fought against the USA and its allies almost since its removal from power, during the months leading to September 2021, the horror of the Taliban intensified after the negotiations between the USA and the Taliban started to discuss a retreat of Western troops. As mentioned above, this violence included killing newborn babies and their mothers in hospital, a hate by men always directed towards the vulnerable.
Then, during the first two weeks of August 2021, the Taliban was able to retake large sections of Afghanistan until they reached and conquered the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021. Large numbers of people were scared with the victory of the Taliban as the chaotic scenes at Kabul's airport showed, where Afghans desperately tried to escape the imprisonment of the Afghan population, at least that of Afghan women (a burka covers the whole body of women's, including their eyes), LGBT+ and intellectuals. In contrast, large sections of mainly the male undeveloped population in the countryside were happy with the return of the Taliban as they hoped that with the removal of Western troops, peace will descend on the country, but also that they can punish women who disagree with them. Unfortunately, another extremist Islamist group, i.e. ISIS-K also tries to control the country (just as other Isis groups try elsewhere) to create an even larger hell on Earth. Still, as these groups (who claim to defend the same religion) oppose each other, will this create an opportunity whereby the Taliban may ask the West for help against Isis and accept certain conditions? Or, may both groups reach an agreement to act together and make the situation even worse for normal people?
And thus now the Taliban are back in power. Many Afghans fear the future and thus tried and still try to leave their country:
- Here a testimony of an Afghan woman who became a journalist under Western occupation/liberation to report on women rights. But, she had to flee the country after the Taliban returned to power. She now lives in London, UK, where she tries to report on women issues in Afghanistan.
- Here a testimony of an Afghan man whose family went to Pakistan during the first Taliban rule but who returned to Afghanistan where he became a journalist under Western occupation/liberation. However, he had to flee the country again after the Taliban returned to power.
Indeed, whether women or men, people who are more liberal than extreme conservative fears the Taliban. Even as recent as now, many, many, many more testimonies about violence, mainly directed towards women, are still published. Women who dare to ask respect will know the anger of the Taliban to silence them. But, also men are under threat, certainly those who are abandoned by the West that relied on their help for safety. Indeed, the Taliban wants revenge for the years they were not in power. Still, courageous women continue to protest with threats to their life.
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| Throughout history, women have been abused until they revenged their suffering such as here in a painting by female painter Artemisia Gentileschi who used the story of Judith slaying Holofernes to show how she envisaged the beheading of her rapist by herself. |
Pakistan and Talibans. In Pakistan, another Taliban is active that is known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. It seems that the Afghan Taliban doesn't always agree with the tactics of the TTP when they terrorise people in Pakistan to destabilise the country in the hope to overtake its government. Still, also the Afghan Taliban is known to attack anyone within Afghanistan and protect those who attack other countries.
Many Pakistani consider there are two different Taliban groups with a "good" Afghan and "bad" Pakistan Taliban because it is the Pakistan Taliban that terrorises Pakistani although the goals of both Taliban are the same, i.e. to overthrow their government, run the country and introduce sharia law that knows no mercy. And thus, collaboration between countries that suffer from terrorism by the Taliban is important instead of suggesting the Taliban are not too bad and to congratulate their return to power in Afghanistan and the retreat of Western troops as Pakistan's PM Imran Khan did. Indeed, PM Khan thinks the solution is to talk with the Taliban. This may be part of the solution for Afghanistan as the Taliban are again in power although not everyone is convinced that the policies of PM Khan towards the Taliban will be successful; after all, the Taliban is a group of people that supported terrorists from a time before the USA invasion in Afghanistan - remember 09/11. Further, if he is right that the Afghan Taliban is a force for the good, than why does Pakistan need to accept again more Afghan refugees who fear to live under the rule of the Afghan Taliban? In addition, PM Khan did not stop to blame the USA as a reason for the terrorism of the TTP in his own Pakistan, a reason why USA President Biden did not yet speak with PM Khan, although I think this is not correct as Pakistan is a major player in the region and thus cannot be ignored. Still, PM Khan is wrong to blame the USA for terrorism in Pakistan because the Afghan Taliban protected terrorists who attacked the USA during which almost 3000 people died. The Taliban could have extradited those involved in the attacks so the USA didn't need to go after the terrorists by invading Afghanistan. And, while PM Khan was always in favour of talks with the (Pakistan) Taliban, why did the TTP decide to end a one-month (only) ceasefire with a Pakistan government to continue their terror in Pakistan? It seems terrorism by the TTP is already again on the rise, even when the USA are no longer present in Afghanistan. Reason? Taliban are madmen, in religious terms, devils who enforce terror instead of happiness.
In addition, how can the West talk to the Taliban that imprisons but in name half of its population, i.e. women under a burka, since its return to power? Only as recent as November and December 2021, the Taliban imposed more restrictions on women, thus less than six months in power, even when Taliban leaders understand this is opposite the wishes of the international community, although certain countries rather consider the benefits of talking with the Taliban in order to yield Afghanistan's minerals. PM Khan suggests we should give the new Afghan Taliban more time before judging their record on human rights and governance; I agree we should judge the actions of the new Taliban but I disagree we should give them time so the pressure is kept on the Afghan Taliban to proof a better human rights record than during their previous rule more than 20 years ago. Indeed, certain Taliban leaders refuse to listen to any arguments except their own, even when it is obvious they are wrong when they hurt innocent people. Still, because PM Khan could not and still cannot stop to praise the Taliban while he criticised the USA during the USA occupation of Afghanistan, anti-USA sentiment is now an important force in Pakistan as people blame the USA for the terror of the Taliban in Pakistan. But, is it not the Taliban that Pakistani should fear? Future may show.
This article explains why the Taliban may have won versus a four times larger USA trained Afghan army. People in the Taliban fought with passion because they considered themselves either fighting for "sacred values - values that may be religious or secular, such as God or country, but that are always non-negotiable, meaning they cannot be abandoned or exchanged for material gain". Another explanation is "group belonging - a visceral sense of oneness with others that often comes about through shared suffering, and that can be strengthened when the group is confronted by an external threat". I think both views are right: yes, the Taliban as a group think they have to earn their heaven by oppressing and even killing people who they consider live the wrong life. They also are a group who fight against a common enemy, i.e. the USA in particular because, even with its flaws, it increasingly tries to defend democracy and freedom. The Afghan army did not believe in freedom after the Western army's retreat, instead they may even believe that Allah is on the side of those who preach that they do Allah's will; therefore, they didn't fight much but instead surrendered. And as such, an evil group of people can continue to oppress and kill while in the West ant-Muslim sentiment grows as people are scared of such an ideology. And no, science cannot provide answers as the article suggests just like diplomacy couldn't, even when diplomats were prepared to compromise, as it concerns religious fanatics who further radicalise when you try to reason with them against the use of violence and embrace progress with the argument there is no God; the return of the Taliban after 20 years of Western occupation during which the West tried to introduce "democracy" in Afghanistan proves this, and this occupation often even radicalised people further. The end? Either the Taliban win as a group and the rest suffers; or they soften so a new start for everyone is possible. But, first they may have to deal with an even more extreme group of people. Compare with antivaxxers in the West of whom many radicalise even more with each argument in favour of vaccination to not only protect oneself but also others; they argue that evil wants to convince them to be vaccinated.
After the departure of the Western troops, the assets of Afghanistan were frozen while the Taliban need resources or they cannot feed the citizens, certainly now because of a Covid-19 pandemic and a drought within Afghanistan. Previous UK PM Brown calls for help for Afghanistan to prevent that many may die or leave their country to come to the West, as that is also not in our interest. Indeed, it is difficult to defend why we abandon during the months leading to our retreat from Afghanistan those who helped the West. However, giving help to Afghanistan comes with a price for the Taliban, i.e. respect for human rights. This includes respect for women and anyone else, even when the Taliban don't like them. Distribution of food should be via independent NGOs and not the Taliban or they may keep the best food for themselves while women and children may still go hungry. And the population should know who donated the help so they know the West is not the enemy. This will cost money that Mr Brown claims is only a fraction of the cost of the war. Still, although the war brought relative peace for those who accepted to live under Western occupation while the population was fed, many Afghans were happy the Allies were replaced by the Taliban and thus with the consequences. Now, the Taliban can choose to accept better human rights, including for women. But, as only recently they further restricted the freedom of women, and as 20 years ago, they start to forbid listening to music (indeed, in hell there is no music to enjoy), not much help can be given, even when we know the Taliban will blame the West.
In conclusion, since over 50 years, war rages in Afghanistan of which 20 years under Western influence with a short period of democracy. Still, the Taliban is on its way to destroy any positive achievements as they did before during the years after the 1970s when sufficient violence silenced any reminder of a more progressive society; but, I accept that almost exclusively Afghanistan's elite in Kabul benefited from more freedom in the 1970s, the reason why people became angry as they didn't benefit. Therefore, unless the Taliban behaves such as towards human rights and especially women, little money should be spent on the country or the Taliban can continue to rule and use the money to oppress people. Indeed, the Taliban chef of prisons confirmed mutilations and executions will restart, although it is not sure yet whether they will be public. It is not that the death penalty can never happen as a punishment for severe crimes, but, this man is not able to talk about how to build a better Afghanistan where people don't need to commit crimes; he can only talk about oppression. Indeed, Taliban fighters were released from prison where they were tortured and now they can become prison guards to torture other people, nonstop a cycle of revenge.
Now China and Russia, and even Pakistan may fill the void after the USA's departure. Still, Afghanistan remains a dangerous region, even when the Taliban promises protection for foreign investors. Further, also Isis may destroy the Taliban as the goal of this kind of people is to kill whomever they don't like. But, maybe that evil is able to change the Taliban in people who defend instead of suppress Afghans. And don't forget that China may not accept attacks against its people when they work in Afghanistan to exploit the minerals; indeed, they may send their own protection. Afghanistan, the hell continuous to burn and consume people.
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