Afghans protest Taliban in emerging challenge to their rule

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON AND JON GAMBRELL

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan protesters defied the Taliban for a second day Thursday, waving their national flag in scattered demonstrations that were met with renewed violence by the militants who are facing growing challenges to their rule.

A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages in this nation of 38 million people reliant on imports and experts said the country was severely short on cash, highlighting that the Taliban face the same problems as the civilian government they dethroned without the level of international aid it enjoyed.

In light of these challenges, the militants have moved quickly to suppress any dissent, despite their promises that they have become more moderate since they last imposed draconian rule on Afghanistan. Many fear the Taliban will succeed in erasing two decades of efforts to expand women’s and human rights and remake the country.

On Thursday, a procession of cars and people near Kabul’s airport carried long black, red and green banners in honor of the Afghan flag — a banner that is becoming a symbol of defiance since the militants have their own flag. At another protest in Nangarhar province, video posted online showed one demonstrator with a gunshot wound bleeding, as onlookers tried to carry him away.



Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan's Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States, but challenges to their rule ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition began to emerge. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-taliban-bd853cac9eee5e4f0cd4b76580f27b53

[Irish_Dem]

1. The Taliban will learn that there is a down side to being despotic, miserable, autocratic rulers.

The people don't like it.

If the Taliban is smart, and wishes to maintain power, they would be smart to ease up a bit, give the people some space and a higher standard of living.

[stopdiggin]

2. and the party that is in power

has the unfortunate job of doing things, running things, and fixing things. In other words - responsibilities! Obligations.

It's lots harder!

[JohnSJ]

3. What begs the question, what happened to the Afghan Army when they were needed?

Last edited Thu Aug 19, 2021, 11:42 AM - Edit history (1)

[Javaman]

9. when the orange asshole did his "negociation" with the taliban

he excluded the Afghan government.

This allowed the talliban to basically go around the country and cut deals with all the various provinces and the Afghan armys within each.

when we started pulling out, they met little resistance.

the army vanished because they basically were bought off.

[Igel]

13. Some fought.

Some, convinced that they were going to lose, negotiated a deal that had them simply go away. Remember how Afghanistan fell easily back in 2001, and Iraq wasn't a hard slog from the Kuwaiti border to the Turkish border.

Some were simply bribed, their loyalty was to their families and tribes.

Disunity leads to that kind of outcome. It's not a good thing.

On the other hand, perhaps we can achieve another Libya. Or Syria. Where there's moral preening ... *and* warlords ... *and* massive numbers of refugees and dead ... *and* massive poverty ... but still oppression and repression.

[Marrah_Goodman]

16. There was never much of an Afghan army.

They were offered training but many had little interest beyond a paycheck. Sadly the rest of the world can do nothing if the citizens are not willing to stand up and work together to defeat them.

[Deminpenn]

4. The civil war in Afghanistan continues

Jmho, but eventually the country will break into pieces. The majority Pashtun south will be ruled by their ethic brethren taliban. The northern part of the country will likely end up with their ethic groups in Uzbeckistan and Tajikistan. The rural villages will continue to live as they always have, ruled by their tribal law and traditions.

[mopinko]

6. yup. hopefully for the better.

there are pockets of pashtun in the north as well. but there are other ethnic groups there. it's not a homogeneous country.
what we should have done was organize the place into states, and have a similar structure to ours.
no one can rule that country from a central capital.
at least it would have made the taliban responsible for their states. if there were freedom of movement, the sane people could go elsewhere.

[reality1]

10. Herat

It was already kind of like that which made it so shocking to me that Herat fell like it did. Northern Areas with Tajiks and other minorities are more Taliban than 20 years ago. We should have gotten out long ago and worked financial levers instead.

[Ford_Prefect]

5. Religious zealots live in a fantasy and rarely deal with the real dimensions of problems well.

The Khmer Rouge were equally brutal and intolerant. Their flair for domestic administration showed all the warmth and subtlety of their patron saint Mao.

[mopinko]

7. the northern alliance was mentioned the other day.

that the main warlords were gathering. it will be interesting. i wonder how many of them will get to the equipment we left behind first.

[Deminpenn]

11. I see a parallel of the northern tribes/ethnics to the Kurds

in northern Iraq.

[mopinko]

12. there's a lot of it over there. if a fair map could be made,

many problems would be more manageable.
a central govt was never going to work.
but w the weight of history in the region, drawing maps is scarier to tptb that ied's and suicide bombers.

[Deminpenn]

15. We forget that most of the rest of the world isn't

a "melting pot" like we mostly are in the US. It's all tribal and ethnocentric. Poles with Poles, Serbs with Serbs and so on. That's the rule, the US is the exception.

[mopinko]

17. i wonder. til this year, i would have agreed w you.

not so sure any more.

[Bayard]

8. I hope they survive

Power to the People!

[maxsolomon]

14. They would do well to keep the flag.

A small bone to throw to a national identity.