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The key to who wins in Afghanistan has always been Pakistan. The Pashtuns in Afpak are more than twice the population of the rest of Afghanistan which is under the divided governance of various ethnic tribes.
Your information is out of date. Pakistan has always backed the Taliban since the Taliban represent a political and para-military organization that represents the Pashtun population in both countries. As much as 1/3rd of the Taliban fighters are or were regular Pakistani army. The US and Saudi Arabia used to provide assistance in building and training the military schools in Pakistan to indoctrinate fighters against the Soviets (the jihadist textbooks). They have been on the outs since the US tried to overthrow Pakistan's government by supporting the TTP (Pakistani Taliban) in the mid 2010's. India has also backed TTP and ISIS Khorasan.
I think this is a good example of divide-and-rule where the US and British are on the wrong end.
What information exactly?
Of course I always knew about Pakistan madrassas preparing/supporting Afghanistan's "freedom fighters."
Even Osama Bin Laden was killed on Pakistan's territory from what I remember.
It's just like never before all the stern gazes are set on Pakistan, Biden's including.
And even the Saudis as I discover now are shying away from Pakistan's support. (At least on a surface ( I never trust the Islamists, always having their ulterior motives in mind.))
You are way off Erasure, Russia military defence spending, (PPP) is well below $200 billion, nominal around $70 billion or less.
That's what I've heard on the Russian news another day, but I was going by your chart that you left earlier.
Just to be on a safe side.
But still, Russian military spending is much less than that of Pentagon's, but surprise-surprise more efficient.
Like for example they can leave the Syrian army to stand on its own, without it collapsing within a month.
So yeah, it would be interesting to hear from the Pentagon and all those contractors.
It's just like never before all the stern gazes are set on Pakistan, Biden's including.
And even the Saudis as I discover now are shying away from Pakistan's support. (At least on a surface ( I never trust the Islamists, always having their ulterior motives in mind.))
Saudis demanded repayment of loan to Pakistan which was intended to keep them from going to the IMF for a bailout. Pakistan is very low on foreign exchange reserves. US and India have trade sanctions against Pakistan. China has been propping them up.
The withdrawal deal between the US and the Taliban never included the Afghan government. China and others are quickly moving to recognize the Taliban as the Afghanistan government when this is over.
I read an opinion piece on the Taliban a week or so ago by an 75 year old man from Azerbaijan. He's lived in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran for years before he settled down. He attended a University in Kabul in the 1970s and even the US in the 1960s. He was in Saigon when it fell to the NVA.
He pointed out the similarities between the US withdrawal from S Vietnam and what we are seeing today in Afghanistan. Like in Vietnam the US has set up totally corrupt government totally devoid of concern for the populace. So much so that like in Vietnam when the soldiers of the north came south the people did not care, as a matter of fact the majority sided with the "bad guys" if not actively joined them.
He says the Taliban are for all practical purposes the people of Afghanistan. The people at best do not care about the corrupt government in Kabul and at worst intend to take part in it's destruction. The common Afghan person owes nothing to Kabul because Kabul has never in 20 years of rule bettered their lives in any significant manner.
America and their favorite people below )...btw China are horrible vs the yuyughurs! "savetheyuyugurus" lol..
edit: this photo is even funnier with the quote from the idiot on the left:
Ronald Reagan was right then and still is right now, although not in the way he wanted to be. Osama bin Laden is absolutely the same as US "Founding Fathers". They are terrorists. Here is the explanation:
"Some of "Founding Fathers" could be considered terrorists, in retrospect. There were attacks on loyalist civilians, including some carried about by prominent groups like the Sons of Liberty. Loyalist media was attacked, like pamphleteers, homes were burned, good looted, and of course the rather famous “tarring and feathering”. Under the scope of modern international law you could certainly argue they engaged in terrorist tactics against loyalist civilians.
Now that doesn’t include all of them, so we can’t talk about the founding fathers as a group. But there were certainly some, particularly those involved with the Sons of Liberty, that engaged in targeting civilians and tactics designed to spread fear. "
Ronald Reagan was right then and still is right now, although not in the way he wanted to be. Osama bin Laden is absolutely the same as US "Founding Fathers". They are terrorists. Here is the explanation:
"Some of "Founding Fathers" could be considered terrorists, in retrospect. There were attacks on loyalist civilians, including some carried about by prominent groups like the Sons of Liberty. Loyalist media was attacked, like pamphleteers, homes were burned, good looted, and of course the rather famous “tarring and feathering”. Under the scope of modern international law you could certainly argue they engaged in terrorist tactics against loyalist civilians.
Now that doesn’t include all of them, so we can’t talk about the founding fathers as a group. But there were certainly some, particularly those involved with the Sons of Liberty, that engaged in targeting civilians and tactics designed to spread fear. "
Very true. One mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.
Russia has first-rate intelligence in Afghanistan. Moscow's understanding of Taliban's intentions puts US to shame. There's no "apocalypse now"! Taliban'll ultimately march into Kabul not to conquer but to join post-Ghani inclusive govt. Why should Russia vacate its embassy?
There’s much here for NATO powers to mull over. If they’ve taken fright, that is only because they’re haunted by their own past excesses and cruelties against a hapless people. Hour of reckoning is coming, as Afghan people will surely demand some answers sooner or later.
Russia has first-rate intelligence in Afghanistan. Moscow's understanding of Taliban's intentions puts US to shame. There's no "apocalypse now"! Taliban'll ultimately march into Kabul not to conquer but to join post-Ghani inclusive govt. Why should Russia vacate its embassy?
There’s much here for NATO powers to mull over. If they’ve taken fright, that is only because they’re haunted by their own past excesses and cruelties against a hapless people. Hour of reckoning is coming, as Afghan people will surely demand some answers sooner or later.
Confirmed.
Russians are "sitting on a fence" when it comes to the embassy, but they are definitely not ready to run at this point, as their Western counterparts.
The embassy reports that as far as the amenities go, "everything is still in a working condition, in spite of the outages from time to time."
"Americans have set us up and the rest of the world community, going ahead with their troops withdrawal.
Of course we are concerned with a threat in a sense that practically all the border with Tadjikistan, Turmenistan and so on is already controlled by Taliban.
We have an enormous task ahead of us on diplomatic and political level, ( engaging the UN including,) in order to not allow the Talibs break-through on Tadjikistan border."
And this is why I am pointing at the fact that Afghanistan ( and American troops withdrawal) is not just about Afghanistan, but reconfiguration of that whole part of the world - the new alliances that are lining up, and all this great round of negotiations that Russians will have to do. (The video below.)
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