FIRE AND BRIMSTONE?

The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan. What happens now?

A DEADLY VIRUS MUTATES, killing more people just as it seems we were turning a corner on the pandemic. Atlantic hurricane landfalls wreak havoc on America’s southeast. Earthquakes in Haiti bring death and turmoil. Wildfires rage in many parts of the world. An apartment building in Florida falls like a house of cards, killing 97 people. A boy axes his schoolmate to death in Singapore. At press time, the Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan. Is it any wonder that we dread streaming the news these days? It feels like the end is nigh, as if we are fast approaching the biblical fire and brimstone moment.

Without sufficient and reliable information on the situation in Afghanistan, it is impossible to comment. But critical questions have emerged. Why did Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flee after saying he is committed to protecting the country from the Taliban? Why did the 300,000-strong Afghan army that has been trained and sophisticatedly equipped by the US surrender to the Taliban who number in the region of 75,000 without much resistance? What was the US objective in maintaining a military presence in Afghanistan long after Osama bin Laden has been removed as a threat?

Some progressive news media are suggesting that lucrative military contracts were really behind the argument for remaining in Afghanistan these past decades. It’s awful to think that it was all about lining a few pockets, but you cannot deny that US presence in the region has pushed back on oppressive Taliban forces as well as allowed the women and girls to pursue education and jobs. All is not for nought.

The problem now, besides the fraught evacuation missions, is that all the fancy weaponry have fallen into the hands of the Taliban. And although, they profess to have progressed ‒ they said they would allow women to continue having careers as permitted by sharia law, and not seek to punish US collaborators ‒ it may be just a case of the smiling tiger.