Taliban: A Disaster In Not-so-Slow Motion

 

Not going to work...


Interesting article over on the Christian Science Monitor’s website recently, “‘Why did we fight?’ Challenge of governing is wearing down Taliban” by Scott Peterson.* In it, Peterson looks at how the Taliban won the war in Afghanistan, but are rapidly losing the peace. Their “victory” broke the country’s economy, and they haven’t slightest idea how to fix it. Also, when they “won,” and the Americans left, they also lost the support which the US Military was unintentionally giving against the ISIS-K, a jihadist group even more bloodthirsty and unreasonable then they are themselves.


There is also the little issue of the fact that winter is coming, and that’s a real problem in a country that has a whole lot of mountains. And the Taliban’s own soldiers, finally, are growing restless as to continue to be unpaid and sometimes go hungry.


What does it all mean? Well, frankly, the Taliban seem to have fought their war in the curious belief that once they’d won it, everything would be just ducky without anything like, you know, work on their part. Somehow the whole of Afghanistan would become one big neolithic village, where everyone would be happy and submissive, and the Talibani themselves could spend the days alternatively praying and killing people with equal enthusiasm.


But here’s the thing. That isn’t happening. The stone age is over.


And right now, the Taliban is discovering the hard way that you can’t run a country on flint knives, prayers, and suicide bombers as your only exportable resources.


~mjt



*Source: “‘Why did we fight?’ Challenge of governing is wearing down Taliban” by Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Oct 2021, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2021/1021/Why-did-we-fight-Challenge-of-governing-is-wearing-down-Taliban



Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building, as an act of faith or from a dying dream to a multicultural reality

Image
 Crete: place of dreams and wonders Special note: Today we are doing something different. Instead of just talking about politics, we will begin a new series by the talented Colette Hartwich. In it, Ms. Hartwich will discuss her current project of finding a new home on the island of Crete. Stay tuned for more about her adventures in Greece.   By Colette Hartwich As a family, we consider Crete (Greece) our second motherland. With its magical diet, Crete is linked to longevity, fabulous jewelry techniques and of course olive trees. Crete, embedded in Minoan culture, is also the birthplace of the labyrinth and the Minotaur, or at least the legend of it.   For seven long years now, we have been looking for the ideal spot for a house: close enough to the sea as there is nothing better than a fresh morning dive straight from your porch; close enough to a village, so that, in recent years the frequent forest fires, at least to a part one could rely on some sort of fire brigade; with a few oliv
Read more

Christian Nationalism, and other contradictions in terms

Image
Very powerful piece over on Vice that everyone should read, " Christian Nationalism Drove These People Out of Their Churches " by Tess Owen. In it, Owen looks at how Christian Nationalism...an ideology which is surely a contradiction in terms...has begun to overwhelm churches across the country. The idea that Jesus, who preached against such things, should be used to support racism, nationalism, and dictatorship is, of course, grotesque. But, it is important for us to know what is happening in the world of right-wing churches. This is, in other words, what we're up against. Forewarned is forearmed... This has nothing to do with Christ.
Read more

Communists Sue Putin

Image
  Say what?   The Communist Party of Russia …remember them? Used to be big in the totalitarian business…has sued Putin and his pals for rigging the recent elections in that country. They’ve even joined with the Putin’s various other critics in launching a legal campaign to get the elections overturned.(*) In a word, Whoa. The elections were, obviously, completely crooked. But there is something a bit stunning about the fact that the Russian Communists would actually find the spine (and the will) to say so. And that they would join with other opposition candidates in beginning legal action against Putin is astonishing.   It says something about the modern world in general, and modern Russia in particularly, that even the Communist Party is looking a bit like a coalition of moderates, and a bulwark against corruption. ~mjt *”Communists sue, say online voting in Moscow was rigged,” by Daria Litvinova, AP, Sep 29, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-lawsuits-voting-e83
Read more