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You need to go to an Ivy League school and work for the US State Department to be this stupid
WestlinnDuck
Member Posts: 13,931
in Tug Tavern
Someone wants to continue the forever war.
https://vitalinterests.thedispatch.com/p/the-biden-administrations-afghan
On Sunday, March 7, an Afghan media outlet, TOLOnews, published a leaked letter from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani. TOLOnews also published an eight-page “peace” proposal by the State Department. While Foggy Bottom hasn’t yet officially acknowledged the authenticity of either document, American press outlets have cited anonymous officials confirming that both documents are genuine.
Per the February 29, 2020, agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban, the U.S. has until May 1, 2021, to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan. If the Biden administration fails to do so, then U.S. forces could be more frequently targeted by the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and allied jihadists once again. For the past year, the jihadists have been willing to let the Americans leave. That could change quickly if May 1 comes and goes without a withdrawal extension. Thus far, the Taliban has rejected any suggestion that U.S. or allied forces stay past the agreed upon withdrawal date.
It is with that fast-approaching date in mind that the two State Department documents were written. The proposed “peace” plan is an act of desperation filled with holes. Let’s examine several of them, as well as the problems with Blinken’s letter to Ghani.
The Taliban doesn’t want a “political settlement,” other than through its own victory and the resurrection of its totalitarian Islamic Emirate.
The premise of the “peace plan” is that the Taliban and the Afghan government want to “share power.” In his letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Secretary Blinken states that the two warring sides should jointly develop the country’s “future constitutional and governing arrangements” in a “new, inclusive government.”
The Taliban has stated—over and over again, in no uncertain terms—that it doesn’t want this.
The Taliban has fought to restore its Islamic Emirate, which controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, for nearly 20 years. All of its public messaging is focused on the return of this strict sharia-based regime. For instance, the Taliban released a speech from its deputy emir, Sirajuddin Haqqani, in late February. Haqqani, a U.S.-designated terrorist, is the leader of a notorious jihadi network that incubated al-Qaeda and remains intertwined with the group to this day. “The Islamic Emirate is the home of our faith and our religion, in which we are all united in a sacred bond,” Haqqani told a gathering of his mujahideen. Much of Haqqani’s speech was dedicated to the need for jihadist “unity” under this emirate. Haqqani discussed the emirate’s various commissions, which govern people under the Taliban’s rule, and the problems they have faced. His address was premised on the idea that the Islamic Emirate is on the verge of rising once again and these governing bodies need to be prepared to rule.
The State Department’s “peace plan” assumes that Haqqani doesn’t really mean this – that the Taliban has been lying about its political goals for the past 20 years. That is, the State Department is trying to assume away the central problem of the Afghan War: The Taliban doesn’t want peace, other than through victory. The Taliban’s leaders have consistently rejected the legitimacy of the Afghan government, telling its followers that they are not fighting for “some silly ministerial posts or a share of the power” with Kabul. The jihadists mean it, even if America’s diplomats don’t want to believe it.
https://vitalinterests.thedispatch.com/p/the-biden-administrations-afghan
On Sunday, March 7, an Afghan media outlet, TOLOnews, published a leaked letter from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani. TOLOnews also published an eight-page “peace” proposal by the State Department. While Foggy Bottom hasn’t yet officially acknowledged the authenticity of either document, American press outlets have cited anonymous officials confirming that both documents are genuine.
Per the February 29, 2020, agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban, the U.S. has until May 1, 2021, to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan. If the Biden administration fails to do so, then U.S. forces could be more frequently targeted by the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and allied jihadists once again. For the past year, the jihadists have been willing to let the Americans leave. That could change quickly if May 1 comes and goes without a withdrawal extension. Thus far, the Taliban has rejected any suggestion that U.S. or allied forces stay past the agreed upon withdrawal date.
It is with that fast-approaching date in mind that the two State Department documents were written. The proposed “peace” plan is an act of desperation filled with holes. Let’s examine several of them, as well as the problems with Blinken’s letter to Ghani.
The Taliban doesn’t want a “political settlement,” other than through its own victory and the resurrection of its totalitarian Islamic Emirate.
The premise of the “peace plan” is that the Taliban and the Afghan government want to “share power.” In his letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Secretary Blinken states that the two warring sides should jointly develop the country’s “future constitutional and governing arrangements” in a “new, inclusive government.”
The Taliban has stated—over and over again, in no uncertain terms—that it doesn’t want this.
The Taliban has fought to restore its Islamic Emirate, which controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, for nearly 20 years. All of its public messaging is focused on the return of this strict sharia-based regime. For instance, the Taliban released a speech from its deputy emir, Sirajuddin Haqqani, in late February. Haqqani, a U.S.-designated terrorist, is the leader of a notorious jihadi network that incubated al-Qaeda and remains intertwined with the group to this day. “The Islamic Emirate is the home of our faith and our religion, in which we are all united in a sacred bond,” Haqqani told a gathering of his mujahideen. Much of Haqqani’s speech was dedicated to the need for jihadist “unity” under this emirate. Haqqani discussed the emirate’s various commissions, which govern people under the Taliban’s rule, and the problems they have faced. His address was premised on the idea that the Islamic Emirate is on the verge of rising once again and these governing bodies need to be prepared to rule.
The State Department’s “peace plan” assumes that Haqqani doesn’t really mean this – that the Taliban has been lying about its political goals for the past 20 years. That is, the State Department is trying to assume away the central problem of the Afghan War: The Taliban doesn’t want peace, other than through victory. The Taliban’s leaders have consistently rejected the legitimacy of the Afghan government, telling its followers that they are not fighting for “some silly ministerial posts or a share of the power” with Kabul. The jihadists mean it, even if America’s diplomats don’t want to believe it.
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End this fucking war!