“While the Taliban’s dramatic takeover of Afghanistan was met with little resistance, clear signs of defiance were appearing on Thursday.
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, the son of Afghanistan’s most famed anti-Taliban fighter claimed to have the forces to mount an effective resistance, but he called on the United States to supply arms and ammunition to his militia.
“I write from the Panjshir Valley today, ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban,” Ahmad Massoud said, adding that “America can still be a great arsenal of democracy” by supporting his fighters.”
“Saleh and Massoud were prepared for the coming fight. On Tuesday, after President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad, Saleh made it clear that he was staying in Afghanistan, and he declared himself the “legitimate caretaker president” of the country.
When he was still part of the serving government in May, Saleh told CBS News’ Charlie D’Agata that the U.S. was wrong to have entered into negotiations with the Taliban in the first place, saying the group could not be trusted. He indicated then that if the militants were “waiting for a moment of surrender from the Afghan people, it won’t come.”
Many of the country’s security forces did walk away from their posts without a fight in the face of the Taliban’s rapid return to power, but Saleh and Massoud appeared set to challenge the notion that the entire country would fold as easily.
Massoud and his followers have been preparing for a possible all-out civil war for months, even as they hoped the situation wouldn’t get that bad.” cbs news
Comment: Will Joe Biden and his cultural Marxist crew let these guys be destroyed before they really get going or will he approve a covert operation finding to provide a modicum of support; a few falsely labelled STOL cargo aircraft, half a dozen ODAs disguised as civilians from some veterans group and these fellows could be kept in the game to make it impossible for the jihadis to govern in peace and misery for all.
Will Biden do that? I doubt it. He is too much in love with his own greatness and cleverness in embracing his Taliban ally. pl
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/18/mujahideen-resistance-taliban-ahmad-massoud/
This is an off topic question but I was looking for a valid answer. Just watched the video of the dead soldiers returning from Afghanistan with Biden watching on. At the moment the pallbearers push the casket into the vehicle, their action, holding out their arms like that, looked really cheesy. Is that normal procedure or was this action added for dramatic effect cuz Biden was there?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mQs6ca-MUvM
The presence of observers not connected to the family of the fallen is immaterial. Senior elected or appointed personnel often witness the transfer, regardless of the presence of cameras.
A dignified transfer is a solemn event, usually observed by immediate family. The intent of the series of movements is that all members of the detail are doing the same action at the same time, each action being done in cadence upon command of the OIC. If the detail members did not maintain that position following the action of pushing the transfer case into the vehicle (i.e. they moved their arms to another position), they would not be doing the same action as the forward members, and they would have to do so without cadence from the OIC. The actions would cease be be uniform, and would appear sloppy.
DOL
JMG
Marxists and Jihadists share a passion for mass killings, genocide and ethnic cleansing. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Biden Junta sold out the regrouped Northern Alliance as part of the deal with the Taliban. In fact, the Junta has already gifted the Taliban with the tools for the job.
Seems the NRF (National Resistance Forces) are holding their own defensively, inflicting casualties and capturing the Taliban jihadis. They are also conducting offensive operations at several point. Yes, we should be providing a modicum of support on the ground. Beyond that we should be making the Taliban’s life as governors of Afghanistan as miserable as possible. The Taliban have sent letters to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran asking them to not suspend the power supply to Afghanistan due to delay in payments. Taliban assures their neighbors that payments would be processed as soon as the banking system is back to normal. Don’t release a cent to those jihadis. Any aid should go through Panjshir. The only help we should give the Taliban is to locate the ISIS jihadis when we can and let them kill each other.
Haven’t you learned anything?
adamski No and yes. I have learned not to do nation building, but I learned that in your country, Vietnam. You must be new here.
Just an observation. All of this post and its comments are formulated as though the Taliban and these rebels are alternatives for the same national leadership. They really aren’t. Massoud and Saleh are specifically Tajiks, as was Massoud’s father. The Taliban leadership is overwhelmingly Pashtun. These things matter in Afghanistan. Both would like to draw other ethnicities to their side, but both have to establish their own viability first. The Taliban have a clear head start. The Tajiks have to prove that they can hold their own in their own territory. That is the mission at this stage. It seems hard for Americans to keep focus on that dynamic.
@TTG & @colonel Lang,
It would be great to realistically make life miserable for these Taliban shitholers, but the moment Massoud jr. starts mounting an effective resistance that would create serious instability internally and spillover to central Asia, Russia and China will definitely eliminate this kid. I don’t see how covert assistance could accomplish anything at this point, except for putting a huge target on the kid’s back and to give the CCP, the Russians, Iranians and Pakis to make an example out of him.
If you could just wait for awhile you will surely see Taliban becoming a massive headache for its neighbors. No need for troops, covert-ops, assistance, and what not; an established Taliban-led central government is more dangerous for its neighbors than a destabilized one. You guys are being so impatient and restless that I believe it has made you somewhat dismissive of the reality of the situation and most importantly toward the NATURE of the Taliban as an ideology.
Polish janitor
I obviously disagree. If you wish to wait until the embers of resistance have been extinguished by having the jihadis piss on them, well, you mean well.
Sir your argument sounds quite R2P-ish! You see, I like the kid, I salute the Panjshir resistance! I really do, my hats off to whoever puts every single one of those medieval goat-f**ers down! but I just don’t understand how it’s anyone’s business whether or not Jr and Salih will manage to resist against the Taliban. Honestly, I would like to see China, and Russia shit their pants once a Haqqani, al-Qa’ida and Taliban inspired government is established in Jalalabad, Kabul, or wherever. This is what I want to see in the near future.
PJ
John Paul Vann once commented to me “You don’t love the Vietnamese people.” I told him I did not and did not care what happened to them, but I was a professional soldier and intent on carrying out my mission in VN. My attitude is the same with regard to the opposition in Afghanistan. I judge it to be in the interest of the US to disrupt, on a plausibly deniable and cheap basis, the consolidation of jihadi rule in that “country.”
Colonel, Patrick Armstrong’s latest article on Strategic Culture reminded me of your Vietnam experience.
I wondered about two things while reading it,
a) are you or were you ever aware of Bill Ehrhart? Would you call him a Cultural Marxist? Then as now?
b) how much time did you spent in Vietnam or Vietnam connected missions in the region altogether?
What’s your gut response to the larger exercise of collecting the memories of Platoon 1005?
https://tinyurl.com/BE-Ordinary-Lives-Platoon-1005
LeAnder
Two one year tours and 3 TDY returns to troubleshoot relations with locals that Americans could not handle. Never heard of him. You mean the film by that name? It represents the film maker’s psychological problems.
Two one year tours and 3 TDY returns to troubleshoot relations with locals that Americans could not handle.
Yes, I felt you might have had more than one.
TDY at least was partly MACV-SOG related?
LeAnder
One was but I had a full tour with MACVSOG that was cut short by the end of withdrawal of US forces in 1973. Interagency clearance of the text of “Tattoo” made me remove the TDYs.
LeAnder
So, reading between the lines, you think I am a psycho war junkie. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth, but some things have to be done or evil prevails in the world. The jihadis are evil men. Those whose resist them deserve US help.
“toward the nature of the Taliban as an ideology” Boy that’s ringing a bell. I think I’ve heard that one before. But if the Col. will allow I am all ears to learn about the Taliban’s ideology. Pls expand.
” an established Taliban-led central government is more dangerous for its neighbors than a destabilized one.”
I doubt that this is very much worrying anyone. For the threat to develop would require Taliban success in governing at a level that seems very unlikely. In the context of Afghanistan, “destabilized” is a synonym for “normal”. Establishing any other situation will cost money that no one is offering. The Chinese might consider it, but they are not fools. As one commenter noted only half in jest, “It is widely remarked these days that no external power has ever permanently dominated Afghanistan. True, but what’s forgotten is that no internal power has either” (https://www.upi.com/Archives/2001/09/26/Afghan-insights-Man-Who-Would-Be-King/9401001476800/ )
The “country” is patched together from disparate parts that almost guarantee chaos. A sort of ideal type for what Stalin seems to have intended when drawing borders for some of the non-Russian republics.
“an established Taliban-led central government is more dangerous for its neighbors than a destabilized one”. Let me explain:
The nature of the Taliban as a resistance movement driven by its strict Sunni Salafist beliefs and one which is able to unite tribes across the country in the face of the common enemy/invader is a different animal than a Taliban that today is striving for national governance and legitimization internally and externally. In the former version, it is in its DNA to oppose central government, disrupt the tasks and responsibilities of a functioning state and to never allow any modern nation-state to take root, whereas the latter seems striving for the development of a functioning state and appears intent on establishing a type of modern western-inspired national political construct that it historically knew how to fight against and break in the past and during waves of foreign invasions. The actions and statement and stances that they have been taking in the past month of so (probably as far back as Feb. 2020 when the original deal with the Trump admin. was reached) all lead to this trend that a new Taliban is emerging, one that ‘optics-wise’ has done some homework and has to some extent learned the use of media, pubic relations and empty busllshit promises that tyrannies always express after victory, but once they manage to gain control of the government, political rivals eliminated and survival is adequately ensured their true nature reveals itself and the rest is history…
This brings us to my observation that, “an established Taliban-led state is more of a threat than a destabilized one”. “Established” does not mean, normal, or functioning or even democratically legitimate. It denotes a Taliban that finally decides to call it quits and opts for becoming stationary in order to transform itself into a state. An established Taliban-led state is contrary to what the movement has historically been known for and very good at, i.e. fighting and dismantling the very entity known as the modern central state, thus once it takes shape it will weaken Taliban as an ‘ideology’ and as a political entity. It obviously doesn’t want the content of its governance to be modern/normal as it has made clear in terms of its stances on the role of women in society and positions of power and government, but nonetheless it wants to be able to carry out only the most basic roles of a ‘Weberian-style’ nation-state like the legitimate use of force, territorial integrity, and distribution of goods and services. I argue that since an ideological movement like Taliban, in order to remain active and to survive needs fluidity and transmissibility, once ‘established’ it will weaken Taliban in a more general sense and will neither become normal in terms of behaving like a normal state, nor will be able to curtail its transmissible identity. And this will create headaches for its neighbors.
PJ
“that finally decides to call it quits and opts for becoming stationary in order to transform itself into a state.” Your problem is that you really believe in the applicability and necessity of the “Weberian” model which is the same thing I have called the “post-Westphalia” world order. You are wrong in that belief. They are salafi fanatics who think people like you are easily duped and amusing.
Colonel Lang,
Yes I do believe that based on the Taliban elites’ statements (e.g. Zabihullah Muhajir) and actions so far, it is working toward reaching political consolidation based on the Weberian nation-state model, but minus the ‘meat’ or at least one that is very much stripped of a ‘functioning/normal’ contents that nowadays have become accepted as recognized and established norms, like equal rights, various forms and degrees of political participation, women’s position in society, foreign relations and commerce and so forth. But It does not mean that they will manage to achieve it.
I don’t know to what extent you have paid attention to the PR coverage that they are engaging in. It is really significant and interesting. Supposedly, the liberal western dumbasses still think that just because the Taliban spokesperson can put two comprehensible and ‘digestable’ sentences together they can be tolerated and (god-forbids!) have some kind of relations with them, provided they behave at least minimally acceptable. But, tell me why else would the Taliban even care to engage in dialogue with the western media on daily basis and even -as of today- manage to have a working/tolerable relationship with the Biden admin? Why did Sullivan say that the U.S. is committed to sending future aid and other forms of assistance through Taliban to the Afghan people? Why did Pompeo back in 2019-2020 gave legitimacy and recognition to them if the U.S. was unsure about Taliban’s decision toward establishing itself politically in Afghnistan? Why are China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan (although this one mostly behind the scenes) are moving sooner that other countries to recognize the Emirate and prompting it to settle down and lure it with diplomatic pledges and future contracts of its resources? Why did Russia alarmed Taliban of the impending “brain-drain” that will soon create probelms for the future Islamic Emirate? The neighbors know the sooner the Emirate is established and behaves like a normal state (which is highly unlikely IMHO) the better they would be able to manage it. It would be in the interest of the U.S. to see an ‘established’ Taliban Emirate in the modern sense of the word, but one that cannot really function efficiently and is gripped with problems of governability and internal political divide and even legitimacy. It is only in this way that they would severely lose their transnational/transmittable salafist ideology. And if the U.S. starts to mess with this process by doing meaningless and frankly stupid covert ops just because it can, then it will again risk facing a more potent Taliban blowback in the form of terrorism against the U.S. regional forces, positions or interests, which ultimately leads to escalation and again back to square one with the difference that now the Taliban is a more powerful transnational ideology armed with U.S.- made ScanEagles, Badri 313 units, Humvees, Blackhawks, international Muslim solidarity and support, able to unify not only Afghan tribes, but also regional hostile states against the U.S.
Regarding the Weberian-style state building, yes I remember your post-Westphalian piece a while ago and I really liked it, nevertheless I still believe that the model is the only way any given state could properly be erected and one that would be able to ‘survive’ (in the Hobbesian sense) generally speaking.
PJ
They don’t want a “state” in the sense that you understand the term. They want a medieval theocratic principality that is part of the‘umma.
Aren’t we glad we have our crack TSA teams, now well-embedded at all our airports, protecting us from at least air-transiting terrorists?
Polish Janitor –
Speaking of Haqqani, there is a report that he will be appointed the Minister of the Interior. Unlike our Interior Department, theirs is “responsible for law enforcement, civil order and fighting crime. The Ministry maintained the Afghan National Police, the General Command of Police Special Units and the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Centers.”
If true that would give the Haqqani Network, a crime family, control over Counter-Narcotics enforcement. Kind of like putting the Mafia in charge of our DEA. Plus it would give them control of the Afghan Border Force. Plenty of opportunity there for the Haqqanis to bring their al-Qa’eda allies into the country.
Frankly, it would mean easier targets for the U.S. in the future and better intel on sister terror groups once they are out in the open. Regarding the Haqqani’s responsibility of the security, I see it as a deterrent move by the Taliban one that sends a warning message especially those who are still seeking some form of confrontation when it is still in its nascent stage. There’s a strong Pakistani angle here too which gives strong leverage to the Pakis access to the inner circle of the Taliban, as well as a proxy against India.
I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. The old Taliban banned the growing of narcotics, and the reasons behind that are still difficult to dodge for true believers. Of course the necessities of war compel a different batch of rationalizations, but those are difficult to maintain in peacetime. Have to wait and see.
I believe the news here may be they intend to unleash their HQ/ISIL-K dogs on Panjshir. A sneaky way to get rid of them, I hope. Giving them something to do away from Kabul would seem wise, anyway.
Here’s a few updates from several twitter feeds on a major Taliban offensive attempting to penetrate the Panjshir Valley. I watched a video clip of an old BM-40 with whitewall tires. A second clip of that BM-40 firing in the night. Another of a working T-62 on the move and NRF fighters oiling up a D-30 artillery piece while others were surveying firing stakes. They appear to know how to maintain and use these weapons. One individual appeared to be a westerner giving instructions around the D-30. Perhaps some retired Green Berets are already heeding the call. A new American Volunteer Group?
“Before, the Taliban were able to capture three provinces in one day, for more than a week now, they have been fighting in a valley with all government facilities, and until before tonight’s clash, there casualties were more than 500 killed and wounded.”
“Update: Taliban gathered their special fighters from the north of afg also from Kabul, we are expecting tonight there will be heavy war, our national resistance forces are ready to face the enemy and show them attacking to Panjshir wants high price by your blood.”
“Panjshir Update: The strategic area of Salang in Parwan province is now completely captured by the Resistance Forces. More than 200 Taliban from Badakhshan surrendered and were captured in Panjshir. Wave of support with NRFA in Panjshir has risen from every corner of the country!”
“Taliban fighters left Khawak, Panjshir. Tonight they lost many of their soldiers. From Darband, Gulbahr they withdraw their group it was a big failure for them, let’s wait for the number of dead bodies.”
“Khalid Amiri commander of Afghanistan national commando forces on the front line fighting against Taliban. He is famous in his war tactics during his job at Khundoz province, Taliban knew him very well as he have killed many of them in Helmand, Kandhar & Kudnoz last few years.”
“Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, captured by the Resistance Forces. Moments ago, the Salang district, a very strategic area in Parwan province was also recaptured from the Taliban.”
“Commando Commander in Khawak district of Panjshir: A Talib commander from Badakhshan province with 217 fighters joined the NRF and changed the equation of the war for our favour ”
“Source: Wazir Akbar Khan hospital is full of injured Taliban fighters and dead bodies, all coming from Panjshir.”
“Panjshir Update: The Taliban are under siege in two points. In Khawak, where the Resistance Forces from Andarab attacked Taliban from behind, and in Shotul district. The war has intensified as much as possible.”
Well this is interesting. I would like to see NRF keep holding on to the captured territories for as long as it can. The NRF knows the terrain very well, has the home turf advantage and as the cold season is approaching these captured territories (and based on what you said regarding new ex-talib troops joining the NRF) could lead Jr. to have the upper hand here. I also would like to see if this is just momentum (while the Taliban is still vulnerable) or the NRF has upgraded the quality of its offensive capabilities -probably through the combination of foreign assistance and military advice from retired vets- against the Taliban…
9/2 no timestamp. most comprehensive report i’ve seen so far
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/national-resistance-front-repels-multi-day-taliban-assault-on-panjshir.php
08:07 GMT 03.09.2021 Sputnik live updates on Panjshir resistance & related issues —
10:00 update:
BEGIN QUOTES
Afghanistan’s northern province of Panjshir and parts of Kapisa province were left without electricity after at least two electricity pylons were destroyed in a shelling during the continuing clashes, local power utility company DABS said on Friday.
“As clashes continue on the Panjshir road, two electricity pylons were destroyed … as they were hit by an artillery shell. which resulted in power outage in the province,” DABS said in a statement, adding that some districts across Kapisa were also affected.
DABS staffers are ready to begin technical effort to restore electricity as soon as “suitable conditions are in place,” the company added.
END QUOTES
Also frm updates: Gov taking so long to form because of disagreements between Haqqani Network & Taliban.
HN is AQ spelled backward
https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/07/19/the-haqqani-network-and-al-qaeda/
Also
https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/india-poised-to-lose-influence-in-afghanistan/
Tough-minded analysis.
Also
8/12
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/russia-finance-new-tajik-afghan-border-outpost-report-2021-08-12/
9/1
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9947461/U-S-help-build-border-facilities-Tajik-Afghan-border-embassy.html
Mail report focuses on GOP ire about the buildup, eg
“Biden securing the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border but not the U.S.-Mexico border is preposterous,” Arizona Republican Representative Paul Gosar tweeted.
Gosar needs to recall how Northern Alliance held out.
Tajik-Afghan border not exactly West Berlin but it’s going to become spy central in that part of the world if it isn’t already.
Are Russians-US jostling each other up there or cooperating? Maybe answer is “Loose lips sink the ship.”
Panshir is done. Saleh and Massoud have fled to Tajikistan.
Massoud never had any asabiyyah.
Rumors as of this evening. Heavy celebratory fire in Kabul and Mullah Hibatullah has arrived.
I was wrong when I jokingly accused Deap of trying out for the position of Taliban Tess. You have that part sewn up, Stroupe. The NRF and their leadership are still in the valley and are doing fairly well for themselves. But you’re right about the celebratory gunfire in Kabul over the arrival of Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh and the apparent announcement of Mullah Baradar as the head of new the government.
Very happy to be wrong in this case. No need for the Tess crack.
This passage from new Sputnik report can explain how at least some rumors of Resistance defeat in Panjshir got started:
BEGIN QUOTE
One of Sputnik Afghanistan’s sources indicated that the Panjshir resistance forces’ tactics in recent days has included the technique of false retreat to lure Taliban fighters into abandoned positions, only to be fired upon by rocket artillery. The goal of the strategy is to reduce the Taliban’s numerical superiority.
END QUOTE
Lots more in the report.
Taliban, Panjshir Resistance Make Conflicting Claims on Whether Holdout Province Has Fallen – Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)