The US is working with its allies on how to respond to a Taliban-led Afghanistan government that will ultimately seek international recognition.
Since the Taliban took power, the US has frozen billions in Afghan funds. US officials are laying out conditions for what they want an Afghan government to look like, and if those conditions aren’t met, Afghanistan would likely end up under heavy US economic sanctions.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with EU officials and G7 ministers about Afghanistan on Thursday. The State Department said Blinken and the officials agreed “that the international community’s relationship with the Taliban will depend on their actions, not their words.”
NATO has suspended aid to Afghanistan and released a similar statement on Friday. “We call on all parties in Afghanistan to work in good faith to establish an inclusive and representative government, including with the meaningful participation of women and minority groups,” the statement said.
Over at the UN, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is planning to consult with allies on a Taliban-led government’s recognition. “We will be watching their actions very, very closely before any decisions will be made on recognition of a government that they [the Taliban] are a part of,” she told Politico.
The Taliban has been on a public relations blitz to portray themselves as more moderate than before. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid held his first press conference Tuesday and said women would be able to work and go to school under the new government, differing from when the Taliban ruled over most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
But even if the Taliban forms a moderate government, the US could still find reasons not to recognize it if that’s the policy Washington chooses to pursue. After all, the US already supports some of the world’s biggest humans rights abusers, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. So women’s rights is not really what the US cares about when it comes down to it.
While the US is preparing to work against the Taliban, Russia and China are signaling that they’re ready for a relationship with the new leaders of Kabul. Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan on Friday praised the Taliban for how they’ve been handling themselves since coming to power and said there is not a better alternative for the country.
The only way the Taliban would be considered inclusive enough is if they invited the US back to continue occupying and governing Afghanistan. Since that won’t happen, it’s in Afghans interest to counter continuing US aggression however they can, including allying themselves with others threatened with US attacks.
What the Taliban has going for them is national antiwar sentiment. Afghanis will still fight any invaders, though.
For the US. war machine to remain, they have to either pressure the Taliban into the Iraq model with a military defense agreement complete with a generous SOFA, or, the U.S. has to pressure the Taliban into taking the first shot or appearing to take the first shot and re-opening hostilities, but without Western forces being seen as the provocateurs.
Moochy NATO countries don’t need much pretext for the Americans to bleed for their perceived interests in Afghanistan. Afghan popular opinion does matter as long as their guns and RPGs have Russian and Chinese support.
“After all, the US already supports some of the world’s biggest humans rights abusers, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. So women’s rights is not really what the US cares about when it comes down to it.”
Game. Set. Match.
US sanctions will not be honored by Russia,China or Iran. They will have normal relations with them.
If the Taliban proves to be “inclusive” and are not corrupt as the previous leadership was, it will be interesting.
I still believe the Taliban is a work in progress in ruling. I suspect that there will be a brain drain as people vital to the government leave. The Taliban has been trying to stop the out flow. There is a significant number of the populace who really don’t want them to lead.
Ruling can be a biatch.
There can’t be a lot of people who know less about Afghanistan than I do, but I still feel this is a really important development.
If the Taliban can’t get access to Afghan money, it will be forced to continue growing and selling opium. IMO the US wants this to happen because Afghan drugs fuel the massive drug problem in Iran.
One of the News Stories here is titled “HowIran Is Relying on Soleimani’s Deals With the Taliban”. It was a very interesting bit of reading, but I kept having a nagging feeling something wasn’t quite right. The middleeasteye site is rather new, and it is based in London. So I suspect it’s a creation of British Intelligence. Protecting the Shia of Iran was surely a factor in Soleimani’s dealing with Afghanistan, but the part of the deal cutting drugs was certainly another.
We’re going to have to be mighty cautious with everything we read about Afghanistan, for the propagandists are going to be putting an awful lot of tripe on the TV, the newspapers, and the internet.