Two More Tales Of Taliban Incompetence

 


D*mn Idiots


You know that I’m a little obsessed with the Taliban and its spectacular misrule of Afghanistan. Well, here are two more articles on the topic of the Taliban, and both re-enforce my general impression that the group is as awful a band of murderous idiots as it is possible to find this side of a slasher movie.


The first is from Rolling Stone, no less. In “Where the Taliban Rule,” journalist Andrew Quilty presents us with an unflinching portrait of Afghanistan as it is under the Taliban. And, frankly, that Afghanistan is a hellscape of brutality, incompetence, and oppression. The article’s subhead probably sums it up nicely, “The conquering militants govern by fear. Poverty deepens, and behind closed doors journalists are beaten and rumors of executions spread…”(1) 


The second piece is from a less mainstream but much respected publication, War On The Rocks. In “Brutally Ineffective: How the Taliban Are Failing in Their New Role as Counter-Insurgents,” Colin Clarke and Jonathan Schroden look at how the Taliban fares in its battle with ISIS-K, the Islamic State spinoff that has emerged as its chief rival in Afghanistan. And how is the new government doing? Very badly, indeed. The Taliban forces have been unnaturally brutal, desperately attempting to kill anyone and anything that it suspects of supporting ISIS-K. Except that, alas, more often than not it is killing innocent civilians, and/or failing to get the real ISIS-K insurgents. The Taliban’s tactics may also be driving more and more Afghans into the arms of its enemies.


What does all this mean? Well, first off, it means that the Taliban cannot run a government in its current form. It is simply too inept. And, second, that means that Afghanistan is probably headed toward yet another crisis of some sort in the mid-term if not the near term.


The question for everyone is whether, in the process, the rest of the world gets pulled in along with the Afghans…and what we shall do afterwards.


~mjt



Sources:


“Where the Taliban Rule,” by Andrew Quilty, Rolling Stone, November 28, 2021, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/afghanistan-taliban-rule-american-exit-photos-1258020/


“Brutally Ineffective: How the Taliban Are Failing in Their New Role as Counter-Insurgents,” Colin Clarke and Jonathan Schroden, War On The Rocks, November 29, 2021, https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/brutally-ineffective-how-the-taliban-are-failing-in-their-new-role-as-counter-insurgents/


Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker

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