by Allen Cone
August 15, 2021
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News ... 629033017/
Introduction:
Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Taliban militants have taking control of most Afghanistan, including reaching the outskirts of Kabul, as the United States has authorized 5,000 troops to help evacuate U.S. personnel, including from its embassy in the capital.
The Taliban says fighters had been ordered to remain on the edges of the capital with negotiations taking place to ensure a peaceful transition of power. "We assure the people in Afghanistan -- there will be no revenge on anyone," a Taliban spokesman told the BBC.
Earlier Sunday, militants took without a fight control of Jalalabad, a key eastern city, which means roads are secured the roads connecting the country with Pakistan.
The Taliban has regained Bagram airfield and prison, which is about 25 miles north of the city center.
The complex, which was once the largest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan, was evacuated by the U.S. military on July 2.
caltrek's comment: I am a little surprised that even Kabul seems ready to fall. I expected the Taliban to re-exert control over much of rural Afghanistan, but I thought that maybe Kabul would hold out.
I think our policy in Afghanistan was wrong headed from the start. We should have focused just on degrading Al Qaeda and treated the Taliban versus the rest of the country as an internal matter. Once Al Qaeda was more or less neutralized, then we should have left, perhaps taking along a relatively small number who helped with translation, intelligence gathering, etc.
I know it is hard to follow that policy when one hears of human rights abuse, especially against women. Yet, if that were the criteria for intervention, we would be involved in invading half the countries on the planet. There was a time on this forum where it seemed like everybody complained about U.S. neo-imperialism. I guess now the thought is that neo-imperialism is not such a bad thing. At least, now the complaint and the shock is how we could let this catastrophe happen. Unfortunately, we cannot control the world. Hell, we can't even put our own house in order.
So to me, it is a matter of priorities. Things like global climate change are the more important issues upon which we should focus our energy.