Afghanistan, Pakistan…and Frankenstein



Surprise! You won a war...for Beijing


So I read on the web that the Taliban have said that China will be their “most important partner.”(1) The new regime will rely on Chinese funds, Chinese connections, and Chinese support.

I wonder how that sits right with Pakistan at the moment. That country, or, rather, its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (which functions almost like a state within a state), has been supporting the Taliban for almost 40 years now. While it wouldn’t be right to say that the ISI “created” the Taliban, it would be fair to say that the Taliban would not exist without the ISI.


Yet, now, the Taliban is turning to China…which has not always been a friend to Islam. Right now, after all, Beijing is committing a spot of genocide in the case of their Uyghur minority, a Muslim people with cultural and ethnic connections to Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. (And Europe, for that matter. There are a surprising number of blondes among them.)


Now, Pakistan and China have been long standing allies. They have been close, maybe a little too close. There is some evidence that Pakistan is beginning to regret Beijing’s excessively familiarity.(2) 


But, even so, I wonder how it feels right now…to be the ISI, and watch this Afghanistan and the Taliban…which you have so long nourished and supported…which you helped defeat not one but two super-powers…suddenly turn around and fall into the arms of another suitor. After all, Kabul was supposed to be part of your informal empire. Not China’s. Particularly when, increasingly, you yourself look like a part of the Chinese informal empire. 


Embarrassing, in other words.


All of which, I suppose, is to say that I’m very glad that I’m not in the ISI, and watching my “triumph.” It would be …difficult…to say the least, to know that my victory might have been in fact the creation of a monster.


Which might threaten my country…


And, at the very least, consume my career, as a snack before hand…


Before getting to the main course.


~Michael Jay Tucker



Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker




Please visit my webpage at: https://www.michaeljaytucker.com/






1. See “Taliban make it loud and clear: China is our top ally,” Hindustani Times, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/taliban-make-it-loud-and-clear-china-is-our-top-ally-101630706488406.html, and “Afghanistan: Taliban to rely on Chinese funds, spokesperson says,” Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/2/afghanistan-taliban-to-rely-on-chinese-money-spokesperson-says


2. “Pakistan learns the cost of an alliance with China: Wedded to Beijing, Islamabad has discovered it could be difficult to get out,” by Saim Saeed, Politico, March 3, 2021 8:00 pm, https://www.politico.eu/article/pakistan-learns-cost-of-economic-alliance-with-china/


#Pakistan #Afghanistan #China #Taliban

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