Lawmaker says Taliban enter north Afghan provincial capital

[George II]

Last edited Sat Aug 7, 2021, 01:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Associated Press

By TAMEEM AKHGAR and KATHY GANNON
5 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered the capital of northern Afghanistan’s Jawzjan province Saturday, a provincial lawmaker said, after sweeping through nine of 10 districts in the province.

The government did not deny lawmaker Mohammad Karim Jawzjani’s claim that Taliban fighters had entered Sheberghan, but said the city had not fallen. If the city falls, it will be the second provincial capital in as many days to succumb to the Taliban. Several other of the country’s 34 provincial capitals are threatened.

On Friday, the Taliban took control of the southwestern Nimroz provincial capital of Zaranj, where the government says it is still battling insurgents inside the capital.

Sheberghan is particularly strategic because it is the stronghold of U.S-allied Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum, whose militias are among those resurrected to aid the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-taliban-71a078dc9c869edb9cd05eee6c066785

[TexasTowelie]

1. Tragic situation with no acceptable solution.

While we might be able to prevent more American lives from being lost in Afghanistan it does come with the cost of knowing that there are Afghans to will lose their lives because of the Taliban and internal strife in the country.

[COL Mustard]

4. It's Going To Be Horrible For Afghan Women And Girls

I really, truly, feel sorry for them and on a human level for everyone else who will be subjected to this barbarity. It's coming and we can't stop it.

That said, we tried for 20 years to help the Afghan people establish a stable government, and we failed. The grand experiment isn't worth one more dollar or one more American life.

Flame away if you feel you need to.

[orleans]

6. 20 years and we didn't help them / train them

so they could defend themselves against the taliban? seems like we could have helped them out on that regard since we were there for so fucking long

[Hortensis]

2. So sad. But there's huge dissonance between the inadequately equipped and

trained Taliban fighters wiping the map with the established government and studies that reported very low sympathy for the Taliban and that a recent "overwhelming majority said it was important to protect [PDF] women’s rights, freedom of speech, and the current constitution." May be, but the incredible speed of what's happening suggests that's only part of the picture of what Afghan people want and are willing to accept, in particular their conservatives and their devout Muslims, and a majority are both.

Politico: ... Even though Islam preaches unity, justice and peace, the Taliban were able to tie themselves to religion and to Afghan identity in a way that a government allied with non-Muslim foreign occupiers could not match.

The very presence of Americans in Afghanistan trod on a sense of Afghan identity that incorporated national pride, a long history of fighting outsiders and a religious commitment to defend the homeland. It prodded men and women to defend their honor, their religion and their home. It dared young men to fight. It sapped the will of Afghan soldiers and police. The Taliban’s ability to link their cause to the very meaning of being Afghan was a crucial factor ..."

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/06/afghanistan-war-malkasian-book-excerpt-497843

[NurseJackie]

3. I have no words.

[Skittles]

8. America wasted trillions, for absolutely nothing

republicans need to STFU about what is a waste of taxpayer money

I feel very bad for the people of Afghanistan but Bush INC ultimately just made things WORSE

[Warpy]

5. I'm sure the military and state department knew this would happen

Loyalties shifted quickly over the last 20 years, and Afghan military was were well known to be playing for both sides. We can only hops some of the training sank in to the point that their rule will be less Mediaeval and the war against women and girl children less harsh.

If we had stayed, we'd only have postponed this at enormous cost to American lives and the US treasury. They don't call Afghanistan the Graveyard of Empires for nothing.

We are not going to like whatever arises as their government and it will be very difficult to watch, but this is their transition period from near colonialism to being self governing. They'll reject a lot of things we consider good in favor of bad old things in order to rediscover their own national identity.

I've known quite a few Afghan people. They were people with the resources to leave. All were perfectly sensible, some very religious and some not. I have faith that country will sort itself out within a few decades. I doubt we will like what it becomes, but governing them is not our job and never was.

[marble falls]

7. The helicopters are on 24 hour watch in Kabul. I bet they don't bring the King back.