4 Reasons A Potential Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan Matters To The World [View all]

[andym]

4 Reasons A Potential Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan Matters To The World
August 14, 20217:00 AM ET
SCOTT NEUMAN
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/14/1027375958/taliban-afghanistan-takeover-the-world-humanitarian-china-pakistan

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"Afghanistan will become a human rights problem
In the provinces they've captured so far, there's strong evidence that the Taliban of today and the Taliban of 20 years ago are not much different. The Taliban of the past were infamous for denying education to women, carrying out public executions of their opponents, persecuting minorities, such as the Shiite Hazaras, and destroying priceless ancient giant stone Buddhas at Bamiyan....
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A Taliban regime could again become a safe haven for extremists
Speaking on NPR's All Things Considered this week, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta offered this blunt assessment: "The Taliban are terrorists, and they're going to support terrorists."
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A Taliban-ruled Afghanistan might destabilize Pakistan
...Haqqani, the former ambassador who is now director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute, writes in Foreign Affairs that "Islamist extremism has already divided Pakistani society along sectarian lines, and the ascendance of Afghan Islamists next door will only embolden radicals at home."
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China could gain a foothold in the region
...China has reportedly promised big investments in energy and infrastructure projects, including the building of a road network in Afghanistan and is also eyeing the country's vast, untapped, rare-earth mineral deposits. And Beijing is reportedly preparing to formally recognize the Taliban if the group seizes control of the country..."
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While the USA should not be staying in Afghanistan indefinitely, the timing and actual consequences of pulling out now are problematic from the human rights perspective as well as international relations one.