Category: South East Asia

Implications of Taliban takeover for the United States

America has reached the peak of its loss of power and authority, a decline that started on Sep. 11, 2001, and that has culminated in the Taliban’s recent takeover of Afghanistan. After this process, it is now a question of how the balance of power in the world will shift The Taliban’s control of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the […]

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Taliban appoint obscure figures in senior intelligence and security positions

A NUMBER OF OBSCURE figures, largely unknown to Western observers, have been appointed to senior security and intelligence positions by the Taliban, just days after their return to power in Afghanistan. Some of the names of senior officials have been made public by news agencies in the Middle East. Others were publicized on Tuesday by Pajhwok Afghan News, an independent […]

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Shia Clerics: Taliban Must Ensure Equal Role for All

The Shia Ulema Council at a press conference on Tuesday urged the Taliban to ensure that they will treat all faiths and ethnicities with equality and justice. They said the next government should ensure the participation of all religions and ethnicities. The clerics called on the Taliban to ensure the safety and security of women and minorities. “The Shia people […]

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Taliban and Al Qaeda: If there’s no war, there won’t be an alliance

The U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan was about counterterrorism. Had it not been for a traumatic terrorist attack in the United States, 20 years of U.S. warfare in Afghanistan never would have occurred. Most Americans would have been oblivious to events there, and U.S. policymakers would have given the country only the minimal attention it had received ever since U.S.-aided […]

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How Afghanistan withdrawal could lead to a harder policy against China

Biden is getting attacked on all sides for putting its ‘credibility’ on the Taiwan issue at risk. Will he cave to it? In an interview on Wednesday, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked President Biden whether the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan called into question the credibility of America’s commitment to its allies and partners, particularly Taiwan. “Look, America cannot be […]

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Germany, Turkey, US talk with Taliban on evacuation deadline

Germany, Turkey, the US and Taliban have discussed keeping the Kabul airport open beyond August 31 deadline to evacuate more Afghans from Afghanistan. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the media on Monday that leaders of G7 member countries should coordinate evacuation from Kabul airport and think about extending the evacuation deadline beyond August 31. He said that Germany, US, […]

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CIA Director Met with Taliban Leader in Kabul

CIA Director William J. Burns had a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar Monday in Kabul. The former deputy secretary of state was sent to attend the clandestine rendezvous by President Biden amid the chaotic circumstances surrounding the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover. Anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the matter confirmed the development to the […]

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The Endless Shadow of the War on Terror

It ended in chaos and disaster. Kabul has fallen and Joe Biden is being blamed (by congressional Republicans in particular) for America’s now almost-20-year disaster in Afghanistan. But is the war on terror itself over? Apparently not. It seems like centuries ago, but do you remember when, in May 2003, President George W. Bush declared “Mission accomplished” as he spoke […]

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The Endless Shadow of the War on Terror

It ended in chaos and disaster. Kabul has fallen and Joe Biden is being blamed (by congressional Republicans in particular) for America’s now almost-20-year disaster in Afghanistan. But is the war on terror itself over? Apparently not. It seems like centuries ago, but do you remember when, in May 2003, President George W. Bush declared “Mission accomplished” as he spoke […]

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Inept Biden Has Handed Taliban All The Cards – OpEd

Every time US President Joe Biden gives a speech attempting to defend his strategy — or the lack of one — in Afghanistan, he digs himself and his administration deeper into a hole that it will take America a long time to climb out of. Even though Biden described the Afghanistan evacuation operation as “one of the most difficult airlifts […]

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