History of the
Taliban’s Harshness followed by a 2-part Pop Quiz:
First, who are the Taliban and their rise to power: The Taliban,
(aka: “Students” in the Pashto language), emerged in the early 1990’s in
northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 (after their 10-year failed occupation).
This predominantly Pashtun movement (e.g., a movement of religious students (Talib) from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan who were educated in traditional Islamic schools in Pakistan.
They first appeared in
religious seminaries – mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia – which preached
“a hardline form of Sunni Islam” (that is one of the two major branches of
Islam which consists of the majority of that religion's followers. Sunni
Muslims regard their denomination as the mainstream and traditionalist branch
of Islam, and it is distinguished from the minority denomination: the Shia).
The promise made by the Taliba, in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan
and Afghanistan, was to restore peace and security and enforce their own harsh
and austere brand of Sharia (Islamic law) once in power.
While the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, they banned
activities and media including paintings, photography, and all movies (if they showed
people or other living things), and prohibited music using instruments.
Major Taliban Prohibitions:
1. They prevent girls and women from attending school.
2. They ban women and girls from working in public
places.
3. They require women to be accompanied by a male relative.
4. They demand women wear a Burqa at all
times when in public.
5. Their penalty for breaking these or other rules has and will
result in public whippings, or even executions.
6. All religious and ethnic minorities were heavily
discriminated against, too.
7. According to the UN,
the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 76% of Afghan civilian casualties
in 2019; and 80% in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
8. The Taliban also engages in cultural genocide – that is destroying numerous monuments including the famous 1500-year old Buddhas of Bamiyan.
The 2-part Pop Quiz (also see my post here for related information):
1. How to conclude a war
between two warring parties, i.e., Afghan government & military against the
radical terrorist-aligned Taliban?
Simple: Get all the parties together, agree to a cease-fire, and
then get a peace treaty agreement signed to end the war, and move forward
peacefully, right?
2. On the other hand, how
NOT to end that same 20-year plus war?
* DO
get the warring party (Taliban) to agree to a settlement, in writing, along
with a U.S. representative who supports the Afghan government and their military,
in a single room to sign and celebrate.
* * DON’T allow the Afghan
government to attend and participate in the process since their opposites (the
Taliban) don’t want them there.
That is precisely what
happened in 2019 when Trump did that. Now just look at Afghanistan right now today:
The U.S. is leaving in full force; the Taliban are back in full swing and ready
to capture the Capitol in Kabul; and killing thousands along the way.
Now we also hear Trump’s newest
and “Biggest Lie” joined by most Republicans that squawks:
“It’s Joe Biden’s fault –
he’s to blame along with the DEMS.”
Historical notes:
On February 27, 2018, following an increase in violence,
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani proposed unconditional peace talks
with the Taliban, offering them recognition as a legal political party and the
release of the Taliban prisoners.
The offer was the most favorable to the Taliban since the
war started.
It was preceded by months of national consensus building, with overwhelming Afghan support for a negotiated end to the war.
Two days earlier, the Taliban had called for talks with the
US, saying: “It must now be established by America and her allies that the
Afghan issue cannot be solved militarily. America must henceforth focus on a
peaceful strategy for Afghanistan instead of war.”
On March 27, 2018, a conference of 20 countries in Tashkent, Uzbekistan backed the Afghan government's peace offer to the Taliban.
However, the Taliban did not publicly respond to Ghani's offer. A growing peace movement arose in Afghanistan during 2018, particularly following a peace march by the People's Peace Movement, which the Afghan media dubbed the “Helmand Peace Convoy.”
The peace march was a response to a car bomb on March 23 in
Lashkar Gah that killed 14 people. The marchers walked several hundred miles from Lashkar Gah in Helmand
Province, through Taliban-held territory, to Kabul.
There they met Ghani and held sit-in protests outside
the UN Mission in
Afghanistan and nearby embassies. Their effort inspired further
movements in other parts of Afghanistan.
Following the march, Ghani and the Taliban agreed a mutual ceasefire during Eid al-Fitr in June 2018.
During the Eid ceasefire, Taliban members flocked into Kabul where they met and communicated with locals and state security forces.
Although
civilians called for the ceasefire to be made permanent, the Taliban rejected
an extension and resumed fighting after the ceasefire ended on June 18, while
the Afghan government's ceasefire ended a week later.
American officials secretly met Taliban members in July 2018, at the latter's political office in Qatar.
In September 2018, Trump appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as special adviser on Afghanistan in the State Department, with the stated goal of facilitating an intra-Afghan political peace process. Khalilzad led further talks between the U.S. and the Taliban in Qatar in October 2018.
Russia hosted a separate peace talk in November 2018
between the Taliban and officials from Afghanistan's High Peace Council.
Key Part: The talks in Qatar resumed in December 2018, though the Taliban refused to allow the Afghan government to be invited, considering them a puppet government of the U.S.
The Taliban spoke with Afghans including former President Hamid Karzai, held at a hotel in Moscow in February 2019, but again these talks did not include the Afghan government.
A further round of talks in Qatar were held in February
2019, this time including Baradar in the Taliban delegation who had been
released by Pakistan in October 2018 as requested by the U.S.
Khalilzad reported that this round of negotiations was “more
productive than they have been in the past” and that a draft version of a peace
agreement had been agreed. The deal involved the withdrawal of U.S. and
international troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban not allowing other
jihadist groups to operate within the country. The Taliban also announced that
progress was being made in the negotiations.
A delegation of Taliban officials and senior Afghan
politicians again met in Moscow for peace talks in February and May 2019. Reuters
reported that “Russian officials as well as religious leaders and elders had
asked for a ceasefire.”
Between April 29 and May 3, 2019, the Afghan government
hosted a four-day legal assembly to discuss peace talks. The Taliban were
invited but did not attend.
Later in May, a third meeting was held in Moscow between a
Taliban delegation and a group of Afghan politicians.
An eighth round of US-Taliban talks in Qatar was held in
August 2019.
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. was close to reaching a peace deal with the Taliban and was preparing to
withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan. In September, Khalilzad stated that an
agreement had been reached by the U.S. and the Taliban, pending approval by
Trump.
However, less than a week later, Trump canceled the peace
talks in response to an attack in Kabul that killed an American soldier and 11
other people.
On September 18, 2019, the Taliban stated that their “doors are open” should Trump decide to resume peace talks in the future.
Following the collapse of the talks with the U.S., the Taliban sent a delegation to Russia, China, Pakistan, and Iran to discuss prospects for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Peace negotiations resumed in December 2019, leading
to a seven-day partial ceasefire which began on February 22, 2020. Now all that
was for naught.
My 2 Cents: Based on all this and current events in Afghanistan, still it’s a sin to blame Trump, right? Yep – why?
Simple: To keep him in the limelight in a positive way to pave the way for 2022 and beyond with the GOP’s #1 strategy: Blame the DEMS for everything and BTW blame Hunter Biden along the way to smear President Joe Biden –
So, what is the connection to all this?
Again, simple: None. It’s all just a raw nasty Trump tactic to keep the GOP base in tow along with the scared GOP congress thus giving him free rein to do whatever he damn well pleases in 2022 and beyond.
End of the story for today.
Thanks for stopping by.
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