The Taliban Are Currently Controlling And Contesting Much Of Afghanistan

Michal Šenk, National Interest: Whether America Stays or Goes, the Taliban Will Control Afghanistan 

Given the Taliban’s incessant rise, debating America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is increasingly irrelevant and harmful. 

When the Trump administration announced in 2020 that it would begin a full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, many were quick to conclude that after almost two decades the United States was, in effect, conceding defeat in its longest war, capitulating to an insurgent group. A number of indicators certainly pointed in that direction. Signing the agreement with the Taliban served not only as a sober admission that, despite years of fighting, the Taliban remained undefeated. More importantly, as the United States bound the Afghan government to negotiate with the group, Washington effectively acknowledged that, in one way or another, the insurgent group was non-excludable from shaping the country’s future. To realize that the path towards stability leads through sharing power with an enemy may be an enlightened thing to do, but the human and financial costs of the twenty-year campaign hardly make it a cause for celebration in either Washington or Kabul.  

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WNU Editor: Here is an AP report that illustrates the control and influence the Taliban now have in Afghanistan .... Mapping the Afghan war, while murky, points to Taliban gains (AP).