A Parliament of Owls, A Government Of Bloody-Minded Idiots

 

Suicide Bomber

So this is yet another posting about Afghanistan’s Taliban, a group whose only redeeming feature is that its members are not quite (almost, but not quite) as bloody-minded a collection of psychopaths as its nearest rival, ISIS-K.

There is another interesting article over on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara site, “As Taliban Attempts To Transform From Insurgency To Government, Suicide Bombers Remain Key To Its Strategy,” by Abubakar Siddique. In it, Mr. Siddique looks at how the Taliban continues to rely on suicide bombers as its main defensive and offensive weapon. Even though it is now in power, and, in theory, is a respectable government, it is basing is military strategy on the assumption that lots of its own people will strap on explosive vests and go charging off into crowded places, there to blow up scores of innocent civilians, including women and children.

That’s interesting, for lack of a better word. Suicide squads and suicide weapons aren’t unique to the Taliban. There have been lots of them in history. Most recently, they’ve usually been employed by non-state actors, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. Think 9-11.

But there have been cases of nation-states using suicide attacks. Most famously, perhaps, in World War II, that meant the Kamikazes and manned torpedos of Japan. But…well, most often, when states have used suicide tactics, it is because that state felt so threatened that there seemed no other choice. The Kamikazes at least thought they were defending their families and nation from what might well be total obliteration.

The Taliban is very different. They are a state, not an Al-Qaeda or an al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. They are not under attack. There is no one, at the moment, invading Afghanistan. No one wants to invade Afghanistan. The Taliban government, if it can defeat its internal enemies (again, ISIS-K) is secure.

But, just the same, the Taliban is acting like a very insecure Non-State Actor, or a state on the verge of collapse. And it is depending on the kind of weapons which only the desperate employ.

Which makes me wonder if the Taliban isn’t a far more fragile regime than its leaders pretend.

Either that…

Or they are addicted to bloodshed, and horror, and suicide…

And, eventually, in their search for self-destruction…

They will find, at last, all that they seek.

And heaven only knows how many others it will take with them.

~mjt

Source: “As Taliban Attempts To Transform From Insurgency To Government, Suicide Bombers Remain Key To Its Strategy,” by Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara, November 04, 2021, https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/taliban-suicide-bombings-afghanistan/31546216.html

Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker