28 March, 2024

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Return Of The Taliban

By Ameer Ali

Dr. Ameer Ali

With the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation and spending over a trillion dollars, and without accomplishing the original mission to restore democracy, freedom and end to Taliban terror, the collapse of the government in Kabul and return of Taliban seems unstoppable. Like in Vietnam in 1969, US is forced to cut and run from Afghanistan in 2021.

To start with, it was a mistake to go into Afghanistan and Iraq based on concocted evidence to justify the invasions. Not only that, in the case of Iraq, US President George W. Bush, quite prematurely celebrated victory and announced, “mission accomplished” from the deck of an aircraft carrier on May 1 2003. It was only after that Iraq descended into a killing field. Today, President Joe Biden’s desperate pull out from Afghanistan is taking place in the midst of an emerging cold war between US and China. This is more than a mistake. It is a betrayal of the trust people of Afghanistan placed on US to save them from Taliban terror. It also shows how ill-equipped and under-trained are the Afghan Government forces, which the US trained and funded over the last 20 years. 

The return of Taliban and re-establishment of an Islamic Emirate does not augur well neither for a peaceful Afghanistan nor for peace in its neighbourhood. Unless there is a radical shift towards moderation in Taliban political thinking and action as claimed by its representatives in Doha, its return would be a boost to Islamists and jihadists struggling elsewhere to achieve the same goal. If there is a real moderate faction within Taliban it will face a battle for survival with extremists. The ones that are in the forefront of the battle now do not seem to show any moderation.

Reports are already filtering in, that jihadists from UK are slipping into Afghanistan to join the rebels. There is no stopping of such elements pouring in from other parts of the world also as one by one cities are falling under Taliban control. A Taliban victory would certainly rejuvenate Islamist jihadism at least in the hot spots of Pakistan, parts of Middle East, and South East Asia. Another bloody chapter is about to unfold soon in search of that elusive Islamic Caliphate. However, once again Afghanistan has kept its reputation as a graveyard for imperialists.      

The immediate victims of Taliban rule would undoubtedly be the women of Afghanistan. Whatever little they have achieved over the last two decades by way of freedom of movement and access to secular education, would be reversed and the new regime would reintroduce its own version of ultra-conservative and harsh sharia laws, under which women would virtually be prisoners at home and would be allowed to go out only with full body covers. Women can say good bye to secular education. Public hanging, whipping and stoning to death for sharia infringement would resume. The world witnessed all that in 1990s and may witness them again. 

No sooner Biden decided to pull US forces out of Afghanistan, China saw an opportunity to step in and Taliban has stretched its hands to embrace Xi Jinping as a “welcome friend”. An economically weakened and militarily retreating US is now facing the economic and military might of China trying to add Afghanistan also into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Sri Lanka has already been roped into it. Slowly but surely, China, through its soft power diplomacy is encircling India, the regional ally of US and a counterweight against China’s rising influence over nations bordering the Indian Ocean.

There is one issue however, which may be of some concern for Taliban over its friendship with China. Being an avowed exponent of Islamism and Islamist rule how would the regime accommodate Xi Jinping’s anti-religious crusade and cultural genocide against the Uyghur community? China has also declared the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which had only a marginal association with Al Qaeda and Taliban in early 2000s, as an international terrorist organization. Sean Roberts’ extensive research findings published in his, The War of The Uyghurs, Princeton University Press, 2020, refutes this assertion by China. In fact, UN Security Council Resolution 1267 includes Al Qaeda and Taliban and their associates as terrorists. There is obviously a contradiction between China’s friendship with Talban and its suppression of Uyghurs. In any case, Chinese government usually does not get involved in the internal affairs or policies of a country and it would expect Taliban to do the same. Whether Taliban also, like several other Muslim countries, would sacrifice its sympathy towards Uyghurs in return for economic benefits from China will be interesting to watch.

The loss of Afghanistan to China should compel US to reconsider its future geopolitical strategies in Asia. One country that needs immediate attention is Iran. With Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line leader at its helm, US cannot continue to maintain its sanctions against that country to please Israel and the Saudis. The Taliban regime could be check mated only through the combined efforts of Iran, India and Pakistan. Without normalising relations with Iran, US cannot achieve that. Pentagon has to work overnight for the next few months. 

*Dr. Ameer Ali, School of Business & Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia

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  • 14
    8

    We also had Taliban like fake Arab chief ministers and influential ministers in the island. They were used by the Rajapussies and later the Sillysena government as a tool to marginalize the island’s Tamils in the north and east. In the north we had the Shaitan from Mannar who with a band of Islamic fanatics both from the south and the NE were trying to convert the Wilpattu wildlife corridor and large parts of the Thamizh North into some form of Islamic state by trying to settle thousands of out of area southern Muslims, some even from Porukistan , as displaced Northern Muslims. He did a lot of harm to the Thamizh in Mannar and even to the rest of the north. Prevented around 50000 homes, that was to be built for the Thamizh displaced in Mullaitheevu area. We later came to know was running a house of horror for poor estate Thamizh girls.

    • 12
      8

      In the east we had a Hichuballa again deliberately brought into power by the Rajapussies and later by the Sillysena government as a tool to keep the Thamizh in the east in check and to marginalize them. There is a video of him, openly boasting as to how he had illegally destroyed a Hindu temple and given the temple land to local Muslim businessmen to build a supermarket on it premises. In another country this evidence would have been used to arrest and prosecute him but instead SillySena promoted him as the eastern province chief minister. Most probably was very impressed by this act. As later Chingkalla Buddhist extremist started to the same to many ancient Hindu temple in the north and east. He then started to plant date palms along the roadways to beautify the little Islamic republic of Kattankudi. Then got busy changing Tamil place names to Arabic place names Eg. Saddam Huessin Village and name board written in the native Tamil language, gradually being replaced by alien foreign Arabic. Reason provided , if Arab tourists come to admire the local Camels and Date Palms at Kattankudi, they should feel at home.

      • 12
        9

        Got lots of money from the Arabian Gulf and certain other Islamic nations to open an Islamic university to train future Talibans and Salafists. This was to be built on 75 acres of land that was specially donated for this purpose by the Rajapussies in a Thamizh Hindu area. The idea was to convert large parts of predominantly Hindu Thamizh Batticaloa district, the heartland of the east, into Islamic Taliban land. The university, date palms, Arab name boards, place names and Arabic dress and behaviour was the start.
        Lots of other Islamic Taliban like politicians in the east were busy Arabizing the Thamizh Muslims there to become pathetic carbon clones of the Gulf Arabs.

        • 12
          8

          Women were forcibly made to discard their traditional Saree and made to wear Burkha, Nikkab, Hijab and all sorts of desert Arab black sack clothes, even as teachers at Hindu schools. They were being encouraged to give up their traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam and covert to desert Arab Wahhabism. In the southern Amparai district many poor Hindu Thamizh workers and villagers, who were in a minority in these areas, were being coerced to convert to Islam by their Muslim employers or their fellow Taliban Muslim villagers if they wish to remain there or retain their employment. Many incidents were reported. We all know that Shaitan from Mannar and eastern Hichchuballah were very closely connected to the 2019 Easter bombings but are being protected, as the master mind is someone else. We do not need to go to Afghanistan to look at the Taliban, it is here. It was deliberately started and encouraged as a tool by the local and certain foreign powers to contain and marginalize the NE Thamizh , also to muddy the waters and deny them justice . Later like all evil it grew and even started to affect the Chingkallams, who thought this Arabisation and Islamic radicalization will only wean the local Muslims from their Thamizh heritage and culture but will never affect them.

          • 6
            11

            ” traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam “
            That is news.
            May we learn some more on “Tamil Sufism”.

            • 9
              10

              SJ

              This Pandi Kutti is Full of BS and should be IGNORED. He is no more a “Kutti” but a fully grown……..Swine.

              • 4
                6

                This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.

                For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

              • 10
                5

                Instead of posting rubbish about me . Google and read . Culture and literature of Thamizh Muslims are heavily influenced by the Qadiri flavour of Sufism. Their domain range from mystical to medical, from fictional to political, from philosophical to legal and spiritual. As a Sri Lankan Moor or Sri Lankan Thamizh Muslim you should know this. You can google and see most Thamizh Islamic songs are influenced by Sufism .

                • 9
                  4

                  Nagoor is the center of Thamizh Islamic culture and also one of the important center for learning Islamic culture in the India and it is Sufi, as Thamizh Muslims like most Indian Muslims follow Sufism Previously all Islamic clerics from Sri Lanka used to go to Nagoor , Now after this Arabization craze and Gulf money pouring in, they all go to the Arabian Gulf, Cairo and return with extremist and intolerant forms of Islam from these regions and brain wash their congregation. Go to Kattankudi and see. Now other than one Sufi mosque , that is having a precarious existence , the rest of the mosques here, have all become Wahhabi. 30 years ago, You hardly found a Wahhabi mosque anywhere in Sri Lanka,

                • 3
                  9

                  Stop bluffing.
                  You used the phrase “traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam”.
                  When was the earliest recorded Sufi interest in Tamil?
                  What was the scale of its following?
                  You know well that nobody will waste time on a wild goose chase on Google or in search of something that has no reference before around mid-20th Century.
                  There were always Islamic scholars who searched far and wide. But to fabricate a tradition out of personal or a small group interest is utter fraud.

                  • 7
                    2

                    Keep on nit picking, even after you have egg on your face. We all know that you are nasty spiteful self hating Thamizh, who has nothing better to do , other than run down and attack fellow Thamizh bloggers and support Chinggkalla racists and Islamic extremists. Who supports you one them only like the Muhandiram. We all know about him.
                    Moderator please allow this you tube video to prove what I state

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRbe-UqeEzU&list=RDIRbe-UqeEzU&start_radio=1&rv=IRbe-UqeEzU&t=172
                    Listen to this beautiful music and song. This typical South Indian Thamizh Islamic music. Coming from the ancient Thamizh Islamic Sufi culture that is 1000-1400 years old

                    • 0
                      0

                      Thanks pandicutty for a sweet beautiful islamic Tamil song

                  • 7
                    0

                    SJ, Sufism practice in various Islamic regions of the world and amongst various ethno linguistic groups varies and is not the same. Example the type of Sufism practised in India is different from the Tursish or Arabic variety. In India Hindus also visit and worship at various Sufi shrines, which will be unheard of in other parts of the world. Non Muslims, even non Sufis worshipping at a Sufi shrine. Similarly the Sufism that is practiced by the Tamil Muslims is a variation form what is practised by a North Indian Sufi Muslim. Sufi Islamic practice is very old in Tamil Nadu and is around 1000 years or more. This is the traditional form of worship of the Tamil Muslims. All Tamil Muslim castes in Tamil Nadu follow this form of Islam. The Marrikars, Lebbais, Rawthers, Kayalars, Thambis and all their sub castes. I think this form of ancient Sufi worshipling that is practised in Tamil Nadu and amongst the Muslims in Sri Lanka, who originate from South India, is what Pandi Kutti is referring as Tamil Sufism as this is their variation of the Sufil Islamic faith that had evolved in the Tamil country for 1000 years or even more. You will not see Tamil Sufis dancing like the Dervishes of Turkey.

                    • 0
                      8

                      You used the phrase “traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam”.
                      Tell us when it originated and its following.
                      There was an attempt at building Sufiism in Batticaloa in the 1970s which was bitterly opposed by ‘purists’.
                      *
                      Let us get some things straight:
                      There was NO “traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam”.
                      There was NO significant Sufi community among Tamil speaking Muslims.
                      Siufism arrived 1000 years ago in N India. Tamil South was insulated for a long while. Sufis did not enter the picture until much later.
                      There would be a lineage which will be claimed by practicing Sufis.
                      There is none to suggest a “traditional Thamizh Sufi form of Islam”. Sufi presence and eminent Sufis are another matter.
                      *
                      You keep on exaggerating:
                      “Thamizh Muslims like most Indian Muslims follow Sufism”
                      Are most Indian Muslims Sufi by any stretch of imagination?

              • 3
                4

                He is honest in calling himself a swine.

                • 6
                  1

                  Better than being a Thullka Jadam

      • 4
        0

        This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.

        For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2

  • 1
    6

    China will be interesting for Taliban over its friendship To Wighe against materialized strategis that US has left in afghanistan military effort Then Afganistan will have improved govenment as it has the
    china and US set strategies due to its combined efforts engagement.

  • 5
    5

    WE should be vigilant against infiltration of Islamic Ideology once again , a subject the author has tactfully avoided.
    Once bitten twice shy.

    Soma

    • 11
      4

      Soma
      I fear that you are mixing up ISIS and Taliban
      Taliban did not mess around with other countries. There is Taliban in Pakistan, thanks to the US using Pakistan to cultivate and then counter Taliban.
      Taliban is bad in the same way any other nationalist-religious fundamentalist outfit is.
      But it has an agenda internal to its country.

      • 3
        7

        SJ
        Taliban is going to achieve a Islamic State which ISIS failed.
        They may not send emissaries out but the example of the Islamic State they are goings to set up will encourage the fundamentalists here to restrict freedom of their own women to begin with. The rest will follow.

        Soma

        • 7
          1

          Soma,
          Only Islamic states with money (like Saudi Arabia) can afford to export fundamentalism. The Afghans have no money to build mosques in other countries. It was George Bush who turned the Taliban into a menace. Until then they minded their own business. If we want Afghan women to be free, aren’t we the same as George Bush?

          • 1
            1

            Old Codger
            I like this one:
            “If we want Afghan women to be free, aren’t we the same as George Bush?”
            Enlightened me in one shot.

            Soma

        • 2
          6

          Soma
          You need to examine the nature of each organization before equating and extrapolating.

      • 2
        6

        9/11, 7/7?

        Read something SJ.

        • 6
          1

          Gatam,
          How many Afghans were involved in 9/11 and 7/7?

        • 3
          5

          9/11 and Taliban– Am I to read the George Bush narratives.
          7/7: Cannot you tell the difference between al Qaeda and Taliban?
          I say no more for I do not want to be rude.

  • 11
    5

    For USA, loosing Afganistan to Talibans means that they are getting something from somewhere which may be Sri Lanka. Whether it is USA or China, their focus is not helping people or improving human rights or equality. Their only focus is power. Strategically, Sri Lanka may be more important than Afganistan. By having war in Vietnam or Irag they have not lost anything.
    We have to look at Why Basil went back to Sri Lanka and came back to Sri Lanka as a Finance Minister and came with the USA, India, Australia proposal to do some thing with Trincomalee harbour and 30000 acres on 5 year lease . We also should know why they allowed Gota to become President. Recently, why GL Peries met TNA Sumanthiran in USA ambassadors place? Why TNA was invited to India? Why India now claiming that they found a ship of LTTE and Pakistan person with 3000 million rupees drug. So, something is going somewhere and we may not get an answer to these questions but going to be change in strategy from both China and USA.

    • 7
      10

      We all know that Chuminthiran does not do anything to the Thamizh and is in bed with the USA and with India, He is their agent taking the Thamizh for a ride and even selling what ever little the Thamizh have left to the Chingkallams and to everyone else. He is supposed to be elected by the Thamizh( sic) but notice very carefully, never fights for their rights but very vociferous about the rights of the Chingkallams and Thullakans.

    • 7
      3

      “For USA, loosing Afganistan to Talibans means that they are getting something from somewhere which may be Sri Lanka. “
      A, could you kindly elaborate on this for the benefit of those who cannot see the link.

  • 10
    6

    Ameer ali,
    Instead of writing about what the americans and taliban are doing in afghanistan, why dont you go into detail exposing all the evil acts by muslims on the island to eradicate tamils since the 1950s onwards?
    We are still waiting for a lankan muslim to do this. If tamil men like DBS Jeyaraj can make a career out of exposing the LTTE and airing the dirty laundry of tamils, or even some sinhalese like wickramabahu karunaratna exposing their own racist sinhalese rulers, why can you do it?

    • 10
      2

      H
      Have you read any of Ameer Ali’s writings on Islamic fundamentalism?
      Despite all disagreements, I appreciate very much his bold stand against Islamic conservatism.

    • 3
      2

      H

      Yes. He should EXPPOSE the Islamophobic and Anti Muslim Bigotry that some Disillusioned Thamizh display in these pages. He should NAIL the Canards about Muslims attacking the Tamils and their properties and Kovils in the East when Facts are just the Opposite.

      • 3
        1

        M
        He has made no excuses for fundamentalists.
        Why cannot any other take the responsibility?
        Is there none?

        • 6
          0

          Muhandiram, you are an Islamomanic and pro Muslim bigot, who is displaying anti-Tamil sentiments with falsehoods. Muslims took part in looting of Tamil shops in 1983. Since 1985 Muslim home guards have committed murder and ethnic cleansing of Tamils in eastern province which has been documented by human rights organisations. Two Hindu temples, one in Sammanthurai which was demolished and Mosque built over it and other at Eravur where Hindu temple was demolished and shopping complex built over it and given to Muslims. About the second there is video recording where Hisbulla has boasted of doing it. Therefore first you stop spreading canards about Muslims being innocent. STF personnel say that most of the crimes that have been put on them were actually committed by Muslim home guards. It has been revealed in the commission inquiring about Easter attack that Muslim extremists have been receiving money from the government even after war ended, to create trouble to Tamils.

        • 2
          3

          GS
          Should not someone provide balance against the proliferation of Islamophobic and anti-Muslim bigots on these pages?

  • 1
    5

    It is premature to consider Taliban as victors. Earlier during 1996-987 they were on the verge of victory, but unable to consolidate and failed in the face of US intervention..
    Taliban still has to go the final kill.
    USA and china should sit outside and allow Afghanistan to settle their internal affairs and once normalcy returns then let the government that emerges take decisions on behalf of Afghanistan people.
    USA should not be allowed to interfere as they did in Iraq and s Syria and allow the countries in turmoil.
    On the contrary, china uses only soft power and employs polite diplomacy when dealing with other countries.

  • 9
    8

    1.
    I think that some things need explaining:
    Why was the noble mission of the US (as the author sees it) to “restore democracy” be carried out “based on concocted evidence” to invade Afghanistan?
    Was it (as the author claims) President Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan? Biden was merely fulfilling Trumps pledge. Here is the heading of a report in USA Today (March 17):
    “Biden faces Trump’s deadline on Afghanistan troop withdrawal: ‘Any way you cut it, we are headed for a messy outcome” (Sub heading: U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan two decades. Will they be out by May 1?)
    *
    Then the author goes on to complain that “This is more than a mistake. It is a betrayal of the trust people of Afghanistan placed on US to save them from Taliban terror.”
    Was it no mistake to enter the country, first to undermine a secular government and later to bring down a disobedient client? The article is fully blind to the role of the CIA in building up Taliban and the role of US and its partner Saudi Arabia in building up the Islamic terror about which the author is moaning.

  • 9
    7

    2
    “No sooner Biden decided to pull US forces out of Afghanistan, China saw an opportunity to step in”
    I wonder if the Author has been in touch with Afghan affairs until Biden ‘decided’ to pull out. China maintained healthy relations with the Afghan government all along. It did not take sides and was even willing to help an amicable settlement. (“Afghanistan looks to China as peacemaker” 05.11.2019, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/afghanistan-looks-to-china-as-peacemaker/1636067).
    *
    “Xi Jinping’s anti-religious crusade and cultural genocide against the Uyghur community”.
    I wonder why no Muslim country is complaining about it. The author may read Vijay Prashad (a highly regarded and well informed journalist writing regularly to a number of newspapers).
    *
    The author’s chief (if not sole) concern seems to be the strategic interests of US in Asia and thus fear of China gaining the upper hand in Afghanistan.

  • 9
    7

    3
    “This is more than a mistake. It is a betrayal of the trust people of Afghanistan placed on US to save them from Taliban terror.”
    Taliban used terror to match the terror of its former guardian. But the speed with which it expands across the country cannot be explained by “terror” alone. Why is there no resistance in government held areas? Many probably dislike the Taliban, but they dislike the US far more. They see the government as a proxy of the US.
    Such details are irrelevant to a writers concerned only with the global balance of power.
    India rushed into Afghanistan under a US umbrella to gain a foothold and be a step ahead of Pakistan.
    China sat back and watched as the grand plans unravelled. Lesson: It pays not to mess around in other people’s affairs (?)
    *
    Cheer up. A comment in the Wall Street Journal (Kamran Bokhari, Aug. 13,) gives hope: “The Taliban’s Afghan Advance Spells Trouble for Pakistan and China
    Instability threatens the government in Islamabad and Beijing’s economic program in Central Asia.
    *
    There is something to cheer Biden; “China interest in Afghanistan could be ‘positive’, says Blinken” (July 29th BBC)

    • 4
      5

      lol my guess is china’s only interest in Muslimisthan is just to make sure that idiots do not cross over and start rubbish.Unfortunately unlike the communists from Vietnam these fools follow a medivial idiotic religeon and this country will remain the garbage dump and dumpster fire of the world.

      • 5
        4

        a14455
        You are essentially right. But China also wants security for it B&R project.
        They will not rush in.
        They have not antagonized either party to the conflict. That is good diplomacy which works.
        Conspiracy theorists invent history to suit their prejudices and outrageous theories.
        I am more hopeful for Afghanistan. People said similar things about Iran after the Islamic revolution.
        At some stage, economic reality takes control over religious fervour.
        That applies to all religions and states.

  • 6
    6

    The Taliban’s appear to be the true followers of Islamic fundamentalism. Quran urges its followers to wage war against their enemies and establish Islamic domination. It is called ‘jihad’ (Holy War) meaning to wage war against non-Muslims and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion.
    And those who die fighting in defence of Islam, Allah gives them the golden key to heaven. In heaven, they enjoy all the luxuries imaginable. Strictly following the injunctions of the Quran, the fundamentalists want to establish a state based on sharia, Islamic religious law. They argue for an Islam largely or completely unchanged from its original seventh-century version and take it as a requirement of their faith that they impose it on everyone else.
    Quran lays down commandments like “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
    Other quotes from the same Quran-9:5). The Quran demands that we fight the unbelievers, and promises “If there are twenty amongst you, you will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, you will vanquish a thousand of them” (8:65).

    1/2

  • 7
    9

    Allah and his messenger want Muslims to fight the Christians and the Jews “until they pay the Jizya [a penalty tax for the non-Muslims living under Islamic rules] with willing submission and feel subdued” (9:29).
    The Taliban’s appear to be the true followers of Islamic fundamentalism. Quran urges its followers to wage war against their enemies and establish Islamic domination. It is called ‘jihad’ (Holy War) meaning to wage war against non-Muslims and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion.
    And those who die fighting in defence of Islam, Allah gives them the golden key to heaven. In heaven, they enjoy all the luxuries imaginable. Strictly following the injunctions of the Quran, the fundamentalists want to establish a state based on sharia, Islamic religious law. They argue for an Islam largely or completely unchanged from its original seventh-century version and take it as a requirement of their faith that they impose it on everyone else.
    Quran lays down commandments like “And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”

    • 9
      5

      T
      You seem to read as selectively as a religious fundamentalist.

  • 2
    2

    Spare a thought for women and girls of Afghanistan. Now they will be facing horror under Taliban’s Islamic rule. 20 years of progress in women’s rights and Malala’s efforts will be wasted.

    Now that the Americans are out Afghans will be killing each other.

    • 9
      1

      Gatam
      Just in case you haven’t heard, Mala is Pakistani, not Afghan. Do not open your mouth while your foot is near it.

      • 4
        2

        OC
        “Do not open your mouth while your foot is near it.”
        The advise may not work with an acrobat such as…..

    • 5
      4

      You would rather have the Americans kill them?

  • 3
    7

    Afghanistan has world’s highest Islam percentage which is 99.9%.

    The rest is history.

    • 5
      2

      G
      Check data:
      Afghanistan is 99.7% Muslim (if you leave out foreign troops)
      Algeria is 99.7%
      Somalia is 99.8% (if you leave out foreign troops)
      Tunesia is 99.8% (if count the communists)
      Mauritania is 99.9%
      Maldives is 100% (if you leave out tourists)
      *
      This is demography.
      What has history to do with anything other than Soviet and US invasion?

      • 2
        3

        SJ, you are very poor in thinking through anything.

        That means 99.7% or 99.9% of all Afghan casualties from now will belong to one group.

        • 1
          1

          You gave a false figure.
          I corrected it.
          “Afghanistan has world’s highest Islam percentage which is 99.9%.
          The rest is history.”
          That was what you wrote.
          *
          How does it translate into “That means …all Afghan casualties from now will belong to one group.”
          Learn to be a little more honest.

          • 1
            0

            Gatam,
            “Afghanistan has world’s highest Islam percentage which is 99.9%.”
            Your “divide the country into three” chant works better. You should try Freemasons and Almighty God too.

      • 2
        0

        Yes, SJ, the data you give for religious affiliation appears accurate.
        .
        However, the wife of the just-deposed Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani is a Maronite Christian.
        .
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rula_Ghani
        .
        I find myself regarding Ashraf Ghani himself as a tragic figure. Certainly not any sort of monster, but too much of an academic, much too cultured to deal with religious fundamentalists.
        .
        Is the vocabulary that I’m using all wrong, I wonder?

        • 0
          1

          Please yourself.

        • 2
          0

          S.M,
          “I find myself regarding Ashraf Ghani himself as a tragic figure. Certainly not any sort of monster, but too much of an academic”
          Don’t you think that describes Ranil W perfectly?

          • 2
            0

            Dear oc,
            .
            An interesting comparison. Same age. Ashraf Ghani, (unknown to me six months ago) younger by less than two months:
            .
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf_Ghani
            .
            But I don’t agree. This is from his latest statement:
            .
            ‘”Had I stayed there, an elected president of Afghanistan would have been hanged again right before the Afghans’ own eyes,” he said.

            ‘Comment:
            The first time the Taliban seized Kabul, when they established their regime in 1996, they dragged former communist president Mohammed Najibullah from a United Nations office where he had been sheltering, and hanged him in a public street after torturing him.’
            .
            https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ashraf-ghani-says-in-talks-to-return-to-afghanistan-after-fleeing-2513662
            .
            This is a true intellectual, knowing that his role is almost over and that he will die soon, hopefully a dignified death through natural causes. Listen to him; read also what I have linked you to at the bottom of this page. Do you believe for a moment the melodramatic Russian account of him fleeing with money?
            .
            Has Ranil ever been anything more than a full-time manipulative politician desperately trying to be the eternal leader of something – even of a UNP that polls only 1%.
            .
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranil_Wickremesinghe.
            .
            Panini Edirisinhe of Bandarawela

            • 2
              0

              SM,
              All politicians are manipulative. Many are corrupt. Some think they know everything. Our current rulers are all three.

  • 2
    8

    Thanga

    Allah and his messenger want Muslims to fight the Christians and the Jews

    Globaly
    1. Holy Koran in the Library of Congress was added by president G W Bush
    2. Thomas Jefferson 3rd president owned a copy of the Qur’an
    3.Gandhi claimed that he had read the Quran more than once

    • 5
      1

      RBH59
      Bush was diplomatic about Islam (Business in the Middle East required it) but his regime was nasty to Muslims.
      Jefferson was critical of Islam, but respected right to a religion.
      Gandhi was truly respectful towards Muslims and Islam. (At worst he may have sounded a little patronizing to some, but I doubt if intentionally so.)
      Think about it.

      • 1
        1

        SJ

        Former British prime minister Tony Blair has become “increasingly open” about the importance of religion, and reads the Quran every day to be “faith-literate”.

        Tony Blair’s sister-in-law converts to Islam

        In this case is Allah and his messenger want Muslims to fight the Christians and the Jews

        • 4
          3

          What has this to do with your earlier utterance?
          *
          If God Almighty wants to use Blair to get anything good done, he needs to have His head examined.

          • 0
            1

            SJ

            This is to proof the earliers statement
            Allah and his messenger want Muslims to fight the Christians and the Jews not the quran.

        • 3
          0

          Why are you ( and generally most Muslims) interested and wish for other people possessing Islamic symbols or converting to Islam?

          You (the Muslims) are not threatened at all.

          Indeed, you are threatening other people; by waging jihad, all sorts of attacks on innocent people who do not care about any religion, then ultimately preaching for your followers to make it possible for establishing Caliphate.

          Lot of people had / have Bagavat Geetha on their
          day-to-day reading desk. No Hindu bothers about this. All branches of Hindu even do not bother about their followers.

          All most all Muslims in those countries where individual freedoms, values etc. (as simple as freedom thought, choice of different food, culture, religion, leisure etc.) are cherished and fought for are taking and enjoying those freedoms and values.

          Yet, they want the most crude, cruel form of Islamic religion and its political philosophy imposed on others one way or another in those countries too.

          Now, whilst enjoying those freedoms, these Muslims are celebrating and rejoicing US withdrawal and Taliban coming back for imposing those cruel and crude religious belief on people of Afghanistan, who had a sort window of seeing experiencing advanced, reformed and modern beliefs, values and world by the US and the West sacrifices.

          It is not that US or the West without its own faults or conflicts, even with modern beliefs, values and world.

    • 4
      1

      RBH59 the Islamic bigot, Prophet Mohamed worshiped Siva and has placed Sivalingam in Kabah for all Muslims in the world to worship when they visit Mecca as part of five obligations.

      • 4
        2

        When Muslims visit Mecca, they do what Hindus do. Bare bodied, wearing white clothing with head uncovered, apply holy ash made from burnt camel dung, circumnavigate the holy place, drink Theertham (water from river Zamzam). Is this not proof that Prophet Mohamed had worshiped Hindu gods and imposed Hindu way of worship on Muslims.

      • 3
        1

        That is great.
        Congratulations GS.
        You are growing funnier by the day.
        My the holy alliance of Allah (PBUH) and Shiva (PBUH too) bless You (PBUY) to live long and amuse us until we die of laughter.

  • 2
    9

    This what happens when you try to impose democracy on a tribal people with a savage and medieval form of Islam.

    • 6
      2

      Paul
      The US imposed the Taliban on Afghanistan.
      In fact, Afghanistan was drifting towards secular government when the US intervened through the CIA.
      *
      Wherever the US used the democracy weapon, it killed people and wrecked the country.

    • 3
      4

      P

      What is so great about ‘democracy’ that it has to be imposed on other countries? What has the most powerful democracy in the world, the US, to show for its performance as a democracy since WWII other than Invasions of other countries and wars costing millions of lives with disruptions to tens of millions of lives ( maimed and refugees) mostly in Asia and the Middle East, not forgetting hundreds of Billions of Dollars sent up in smoke?

      How has democracy helped in our own Sri Lanka, certainly not a tribal country by any stretch of imagination after 7 decades with more than a dozen Govts ruling the country?

      Some wise man is supposed to have said that ‘democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.’

      Isn’t it time that some other form is tried?

      • 1
        1

        M
        Democracy is mistaken for parliamentary democracy.
        Other forms exist and have served the people well.

        • 2
          4

          SJ

          Can you give some examples of these “other forms” and where they “have served the people well”?

          • 1
            1

            Soviet Union, Cuba, Vietnam, China, until socialism lasted.
            *
            People exercise power by ways other than corrupt electoral systems where money decides who is elected.

            • 1
              1

              SJ

              Even in Monarchies and Dictatorships. there had been some good rulers. The good among Dictators were called ‘Benevolent Dictators’. What it means is that the quality of the Leaders is very important. The system, by itself, is UNLIKELY to result in good governance if those in power are Inefficient or Corrupt

  • 3
    4

    Why did Uncle Sam enter Afghanistan? Any one who thinks that it is to restore democracy, freedom and end to Taliban terror has got it Totally WRONG. Uncle Sam has NO INTEREST in Democracy or Freedom which are touted as reasons to FOOL not only the American people but the Entire world.

    What is little known about Afghanistan is its massive Natural Resources in Minerals, Precious Stones and Petroleum Reserves. The Ever Greedy Uncle Sam wanted ALL that for himself. So, the Billions or Trillions of Dollars spent and Tens of Thousands of Americans sacrificed over 20 years and the Sustained Media Campaign to Criminalise the Taleban are part of the Preliminary Expenses. Well, when Realisation dawned that their Ill Conceived Plan dictated by Greed and Avarice is taking them no where, they decided to cut their Losses and say Good Bye.

    Today’s (16th Aug) Daily Mirror Editorial gives an idea of Afghanistan’s Untapped Wealth. See: https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/The-sad-tale-of-the-Afghan-people-EDITORIAL/172-218321

    We will have to wait and see how the Talebans run the country when they take control without making pre-judgements based on totally one-sided Media reports.

    • 4
      2

      Muhandiram,

      If your theory is true, then show us the resource harvest by US in Afghanistan so far.

      In fact if your theory is true, then US must have entrenched deeply into the fabric of Afghanistan, and must not have left.

      Indeed, after seeing what Sinhala Lanka did LTT and Tamils, the US must have attempted a modified version of it on Afghanistan if your theory is true.

      • 2
        2

        KA
        Did the US have a chance?
        The goddamned Taliban stood in the way of the US to plunder in peace.

        • 1
          0

          Why bother about chance when there was no interest in the first place.

          “The goddamned Taliban stood in the way of the US to plunder in peace.”

          If the US really interested in natural resources, what prevented US doing a scale up / down version of Fallujah in Afghanistan, especially in those resource rich places.

          You answer may well be Taliban.

          Indeed, Afghanistan economy grew nearly at the rate of 9% since US Taliban was removed and US took over the rule until recently.

      • 1
        2

        KA

        Simple. The Americans controlled only a part of Afghanistan through the Govt. based in Kabul.

        According to a study by the BBC published in Jan. 2018, the Taleban was in full control of 14 districts (about 4% of the country) and had an active and open physical presence in a further 263 districts (66%}. That means, a vast part – 70% – of the country was beyond the Kabul based Govt. control.

        To exercise this little control, the Americans spent over $ 2.20 trillions during the 20 years since 2001. Of course, they would have tried all possibilities to reap some rewards for their investment and other sacrifice. But, they must have realised Finally that they Cannot continue any further

        Do you have any other ideas as to what the Americans should have done?

        • 1
          0

          True.

          But, you have scored your own goal.

          This shows that US was not interested in resource harvest in the first place, despite US Army general pronouncement (in 2010) of how resource rich Afghanistan is and internal US Defence Department memo of “the Saudi Arabia of lithium”.

          “Do you have any other ideas as to what the Americans should have done?”

          Americans had means for no hold bared approach, like Iraq. Yet, US did not use it. I believe modified version of it must have been tried by the US on the Taliban for the greater good of humanity.

          “But, they must have realised Finally that they Cannot continue any further”

          I think, there is more than meets your eyes.

          Essentially, US military doctrine and political posture is changing whilst retaining the lessons, experience and structures of small, mostly internal conflicts that have international dimensions. The withdrawal is given the public image of meeting domestic compulsions.

          If you try to understand as to why the US is currently conducting LSE (large scale exercise, which is meant to show US military will, power and ability to project force all over the world at the same time in all 4 frons, land, air, sea and space) then you will understand the US motive.

  • 1
    6

    Once their citizens have been evacuated, USA and others will start bombing Afghanistan into dust.

    Stop hair splitting logic on ISIS, AQ and Taliban. They are all the same in their objective – Sharia.

    SL also had Afghans in relatively large numbers until 1915.

    • 4
      1

      “Once their citizens have been evacuated, USA and others will start bombing Afghanistan into dust.”
      *
      A wish in vain or a dumb forecast?

      • 3
        0

        Gatam,
        What’s wrong with Sharia? It cuts off the hands of thieves and beheads murderers legally. Our police shoot them in secret illegally. Don’t be a hypocrite.

  • 5
    4

    What is now happening in Afghanistan is tragic and we should be concerned for the population there, especially the Mongolian Shia Hazaras, who are looked down by the Indo European origin Pashtuns and Tajiks and were persecuted by the largely Pashtun Suni/Salafist Taliban. We should not let the actions of the local Sri Lankan Muslims, cloud our judgement. Other than the slender thread of Islam, these Dravidian Sri Lankan Tamil Muslims or Moors as they love to call themselves, have no connection with the population of Afghanistan, who are of Indo European, Turkic and Mongol origin, speaking Dari( Old Persian) Pashtun or Turkic languages like Uzbek ETC. Dr. Ameer Ali thank you very much for your concern and the article and please keep us informed. Thank you again.

    • 3
      0

      No more tragic than when the US unleashed the CIA to wreck a secular government.

  • 1
    0

    I’ve just found this most listenable, yet thought provoking 6 minute comment reflecting the guilt felt by an independent Brit who teaches various things (English, Philosophy at University level) and has been involved in politics as well.
    .
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84GwFPRAKc4
    .
    Well, this is generalised breast-beating by a sensitive Westerner. His name (not given here) Professor Tim Wilson. Well worth spending five minutes on this.

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