A report published by The Washington Post on Thursday revealed that the US has been secretly providing the Taliban with air support in its fight against ISIS in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunar Province.
The campaign is being carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the secretive counterterrorism task force. “What we’re doing with the strikes against ISIS is helping the Taliban move,” a member of JSOC told the Post.
In the Fall and Winter of 2019, President Trump took a hardline approach with the Taliban to negotiate the Doha peace deal that was signed in February of this year. During that time, while the US was regularly bombing the Taliban, JSOC provided the group with air support in Kunar.
The team conducting this mission inside JSOC is known as the “Taliban Air Force.” The unit does not communicate directly with Taliban commanders but instead listens in on their communications to track the group.
Members of the JSOC task force told the Post that they could tell when and where the Taliban would be preparing an offensive against ISIS. JSOC targets ISIS positions using Reaper drones and other military aircraft. The Taliban fighters on the ground are willing to accept the support and wait to attack ISIS positions until they see the missiles and hear the explosions.
US military officials have previously mentioned US support for the Taliban without disclosing any details. In March, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said the US is providing the Taliban with “limited support” in the group’s fight against ISIS.
As per the US-Taliban peace deal, the Taliban committed to preventing groups like ISIS from planning or launching international terror attacks from Afghanistan. But the Afghanistan branch of ISIS is believed to be mostly made up of local fighters, not international terrorists.
And of course the JSOC knows that the communications they’re listening to are actually Taliban, and not someone else’s? As though the Afghan ISIS is anything but a help to the American Empire by allowing it to keep occupying what’s left of the so called government controlled area of Afghanistan.
By the way, here is what actual Taliban fighters look like now (screen grab I took from a Taliban video on Telegram):
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9fcd41c3d21104e23bb9d4f3c24cc97cb4bfe433967358c7c46be6bc3e88f1a7.png
Let’s just say that the “turban wearing semiliterate peasant” image is a bit obsolete now. It’s a regular professional army and the idea that it can’t even secure its communications is a little hard to believe.
What a sick joke. Who in our establishment is actually paid to invent such tales?
ISIS — a pure intelligence creation between US and Saudis during the rule of Interior Minister — then Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef. has failed in its main objective — to establish Sunni Caliphate in territories carved out from Iraq and Syria. And in some areas ISIS served as a placeholder to install Kurds. Example being Iraqi Sinjar and Kirkuk. It was Turkish PKK that West imported into Iraq to challenge established Peshmerga Kurds.
Did not go to plan. Iran helped Iraq, Iraqi Shia militias formed outside military to avoid taking US military misdirections.
And in Syria, Russia, Syrian Army and various militias (Shia, Christian and Palestinian) pushed ISIS across Euphrates to Raqqa, while Turkish Army attacked the string of places ISIS took in Syria aling Turkush border.
Manbij was a wake up call. An Arab town, conquered by ISIS, “liberated” by US and Kurds, then given to Kurds to manage. Kurds immediately expelled all well to do people, business people, former administrators, lawyers, police, teachers — took their property and ruled. ISIS left with their arms to Raqqa.
It was clear that the purpose of border string of ISIS occupied towns and villages was to be a placeholder for Kurdish expansion along Turkish border to connect to Kurdish Afrin. To prevent this, Turkey had to cut a corridor to Al-Bab, and oust ISIS.
This was the decisive battle, it is in Wikipedia. In the battle, Turkey advanced from its border, Syrian Army from the opposite side, while Kurds from Manbij and Afrin tried to cut Turkey off from advancing. Turkey accused US of giving to Kurds and ISIS their position by overflying the battle field. They had a point — they had big surprise losses.
In the end, Russian Air Force came in, flying joint attacks with Turkish Air Force to finally oust ISIS from Al-Bab. Since, Turkey occupied Afrin and stopped weapons smuggling from Turkish Kurds across Afrin to Idlib.
And ever since — Turkey and Syrian Army have kept the area closed to any penetration towards Turkish border. Aleppo or Manbij.
The myth that Syria and Turkey are enemies is just that — a convenient PR for both. As they continued side by side to keep US supported Kurds from using ISIS excuse to take territory.
Trying to use this stale and defeated ME strategy in Afghanistan is a short- term gimmick until a more permanent narrative is found. A solution that would justify presence in Afghanistan for just a bit longer. I see a Russia angle coming.
As for Trump’s Christmas coming home story, it will be just another soldier’s story of “I’ll be home for Christmas.”
Correct, ISIS does not really exist. Its just a bogeyman invented to justify imperialism. These air strikes help protect our opium producers from rivals.
I have long since come to the same conclusion. ISIS is a marketing label.
I didn’t think I would roll over in laughter this early. I’m glad the news was sufficiently covert to publicize.
I don’t believe it, either.
We’ve come full circle. It’s just a matter of time before we send Sylvester Stallone back in there to help them kill more Russians.
What a joke…!? Taliban does not need US help to fight ISIS terrorists that US Transferred to Afghanistan from Iraq & Syria…!
The point of the IS being, to track the Taliban, no doubt.
Pretty sophisticated proxy warring. No wonder they don’t want to leave.
Never has ‘theatre of war’ been more appropriate.