NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday (17 August) called on the Taliban to prevent Afghanistan from lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terrorism, and said the Western defence alliance has agreed to send additional evacuation planes to Kabul. Western powers are scrambling to respond to the fall-out from their decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and the Taliban’s […]

The Taliban has declared a general amnesty for former Afghan government officials, a statement by the Taliban said. “A general amnesty has been declared for all so you should have no doubt about resuming your normal activities,” the statement reads, TASS reported. Taliban members entered Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on August 15, meeting no resistance, and took control of the […]

Twenty years ago, the United States waged the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks. The US declared Afghanistan as the first front in this war with the intention to swiftly crush the Taliban forces for providing safe haven to Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the Al-Qaeda. The GWOT […]

At first glance, the Taliban’s victory over the Afghan government after the US withdrew its troops from the country represents a humiliating defeat for America and its allies. This, at least, seems to be the position taken by analysts and commentators in coverage of this story in most mainstream US media publications. Upon closer review, however, the US’s withdrawal from […]

Back then, after September 11, 2001, in Washington and New York, everybody talked about who could have done it, how they did it and with what means. The only thing never brought to the fore was: WHY would somebody want to do something like 9/11 to the United States of America? By not asking the Why question, the US could […]

Air operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, continued through the night, getting between 700 and 800 people out of the country, said Army Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for regional operations. Taylor spoke alongside DOD Press Secretary John F. Kirby at the Pentagon. The men said the airport is under U.S. […]

The Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in December, 1979 and withdrew, exhausted and demoralized, 10 years later. In Moscow a joke had long circulated: “Why are we still in Afghanistan?” Answer: “We are still looking for the people who invited us.” The same is true for the Americans and NATO who are now moving through the exit door. They came to […]

Kabil’in düşmesi ile Afganistan bayrakları gönderden indirildi ve yerlerine Taliban’ın İslam Emirliği bayrakları çekildi. Batı ülkeleri büyükelçiliklerini birbiri ardına boşalttı. Çoğu yerli personelini bile tahliye etmeyi başaramadı. Afgan çalışanlarına haber vermeden ülkeden kaçan Batı temsilcilikleri bile oldu. Dünya devletlerinin Kabil oluşacak yeni hükümetle nasıl bir ilişki kuracakları elbette henüz net değil ve büyük ölçüde Taliban’ın nasıl bir koalisyon hükümeti kuracağına […]

Once the United States announced its decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, it was only a matter of time before the country would fall to the Taliban. But it took much less time than expected with the Taliban declaring victory on Sunday after the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani fled and the government, which was propped up by the US-led […]

Kaboul est tombée et il n’aura fallu que quelques semaines aux talibans pour balayer l’armée afghane financée et formée par les États-Unis durant vingt ans. Pour rappel, le régime communiste avait survécu trois années au retrait de l’Armée rouge. Mais le désastre afghan, au-delà d’une défaite ponctuelle, signe le fiasco de « la guerre contre le terrorisme ». Nous étions […]