As is well known, the United States of America is engaged in diplomatic action with the Taliban militias, to arrive at one exit strategy from the Afghan theater.
To this end, the Pentagon has downplayed the extent of the attacks by the Taliban on Afghan security forces last Wednesday. For the record, the raids conducted by the insurgents they killed 14 government officials (soldiers and police members) in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz and 6 others in the Uruzgan province.
United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley at a hearing in front of the Commission for the Armed Forces of the United States Senate, stated that, less than a week has passed since the signing of the peace agreement with the Taliban, the overall level of attacks has been low.
The secretary said that, so far, the capitals of the thirty-four provinces in Afghanistan have not been attacked by the Taliban. The chief of joint staff, Mark Milley, also pointed out that the attacks by the Taliban in the last twenty-four to forty-eight hours have been low. "The Taliban have adhered to a whole series of conditions"Milley said, adding: "Importantly, there is no attack on 34 provincial capitals, no attack on Kabul, no high-profile attack, no suicide bomber, no attack on American and coalition forces".
Urged by the senators, regarding the recent attacks, the defense secretary identified the cause in the lack of clear leadership among the ranks of the Taliban militias, thus giving responsibility to a sort of frond aimed at defining the hierarchies within the militias.
However, the secretary of defense sees the current situation - after the agreement signed last Saturday in Qatar - as a great opportunity to achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan.
According to the Peace Treaty, the US will commit to reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to 8.600 within 135 days of signing the agreement and all US and foreign troops will leave the country in 14 months. Obviously, the withdrawal of western forces is subject to compliance with the agreements by the Taliban militias.
Trump is now in the midst of the election campaign for the re-election, bringing home American soldiers, after almost twenty years of heavy (both in terms of lives and appropriations) military commitment in Afghanistan, would be a big success. In this situation, we fear that importance will be given more to the times than to the contents of the Treaty.
The Taliban - remember - they absolutely do not represent the entire Afghan populationin fact they belong mostly to the Pashtun ethnic group (about 36% according to US sources, about 20% according to Afghan sources. In this logic, the reason for the aversion to a census of the population among the abusive monopolizers of power and international relations in Afghanistan is clear..., ndd). From 1996 to 2001, after having prevailed against Tajiks and Uzbeks, the Taliban imposed the Shari'a all over the country.
After the signing of the Treaty, Islamic militias will have to wait just over a year (they can afford to provide the USA with all kinds of reassurances) then, with the support of Pakistan and Iran, they will be able to resume guerrilla war against the forces of security of Kabul, poorly trained and equipped, and placed under the orders of a fragile and corrupt institutional structure.
The Trump administration will therefore be able to flag the agreement with the Taliban as an important goal achieved - unlike what Obama has promised and not kept - aimed at finally stabilizing the entire region.
Photo: US Marine Corps
