Yes they are. They ought to be.ISIS is a common enemy of the US and Taliban. I expect some collaboration on this front at least. The CIA and co. are pragmatic folks, they speak with whom they need to speak. — Olivier5
That is what I am talking about: a dismissive, almost racist attitude towards them. It's very common in some corners of the 'west', unfortunately. — Olivier5
. The Russians and the Chinese can be happy how things are going now. — ssu
I'd disagree. Don't think that these countries are so obsessed with Afghanistan as the US is. Both have already dealt with their own internal "muslim problem" quite ruthlessly and successfully. The Second Chechen war was won and the Uighurs are in concentration camps.Nope, they are not. — Olivier5
8. The main external military dangers are:
a) the desire to endow the force potential of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) with global functions carried out in violation of the
norms of international law and to move the military infrastructure of NATO
member countries closer to the borders of the Russian Federation, including
by expanding the bloc;
b) the attempts to destabilize the situation in individual states and regions
and to undermine strategic stability;
c) the deployment (buildup) of troop contingents of foreign states (groups of
states) on the territories of states contiguous with the Russian Federation
and its allies and also in adjacent waters;
d) the creation and deployment of strategic missile defence systems
undermining global stability and violating the established correlation of
forces in the nuclear-missile sphere, and also the militarization of outer
space and the deployment of strategic nonnuclear precision weapon systems;
e) territorial claims against the Russian Federation and its allies and
interference in their internal affairs;
f) the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missiles, and missile
technologies, and the increase in the number of states possessing nuclear
weapons;
g) the violation of international accords by individual states, and also
noncompliance with previously concluded international treaties in the field
of arms limitation and reduction;
h) the use of military force on the territories of states contiguous with the
Russian Federation in violation of the UN Charter and other norms of
international law;
i) the presence (emergence) of seats of armed conflict and the escalation of
such conflicts on the territories of states contiguous with the Russian
Federation and its allies;
j) the spread of international terrorism;
On the basis of fully respecting the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the will of all factions in the country, China has maintained contact and communication with the Afghan Taliban and played a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Afghan issue. On July 28, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the visiting delegation led by head of the Afghan Taliban political committee Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tianjin.
We hope the Afghan Taliban can form solidarity with all factions and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, and build a broad-based and inclusive political structure suited to the national realities, so as to lay the foundation for achieving enduring peace in the country.
The Afghan Taliban said on multiple occasions that it hopes to grow sound relations with China, looks forward to China's participation in Afghanistan's reconstruction and development and will never allow any force to use the Afghan territory to engage in acts detrimental to China. We welcome those statements.
The Islamic State has most likely abandoned its aggressive stance toward China for these strategic reasons. To preserve the useful dynamic of a non-militarized China replacing a militarized United States in the Middle East and South Asia, the Islamic State appears to have abandoned its previous advocacy and adopted a near total, systematic silence on not just the Uighur issue, but also Chinese influence more broadly.
the history you go by was written by Christians and Jews who had the same bias. You should try to read Arabic authors. — Olivier5
As someone noted already, this depends on how you define success. If their goal is to maintain age-old traditions unaffected by foreign influences, they might do well. — Olivier5
↪Apollodorus Nobody said Pakistanis were Arab. I just said that there was once a brilliant Arab civilization. I don't think this is in dispute by any serious historian. — Olivier5
That is not exactly what they want. The first thing they accomplished is convincing Turkey to operate the airport. — Athena
As for enemies... The Americans always look for some enemy or another. I guess they're convenient to justify enormous military spending, huh? — Olivier5
Hence policy is made by what the voter wants in a democracy. Or otherwise you would have to have politicians with real leadership skills to change and mold the views of the voter, to make him or her to understand that realpolitik is the way to go. For example to us Finns this is easy to understand as we know that we are the quite dispensable country, so for us foreign policy is not about right or wrong, but basically survival. — ssu
↪Athena Sure. My point was that the US could dispense from looking for new enemies all the time. The books are now closed on Afghanistan, thanks to Biden. That was the longest war the US ever fought... and for what? — Olivier5
The nation-building may have succeeded had we used Islam for the foundation of that nation. — Athena
The nation-building may have succeeded had we used Islam for the foundation of that nation. — Athena
I happen to think that what was missing was Afghan own governance traditions, and in particular their reliance on communal decision making through institutions called shuras and jirghas — Olivier5
Decisions made by an oligarchy are not communal decisions, they are decisions by few men which affect the 'community'. — hairy belly
Of course only men talk. — Olivier5
Well, during the Spanish-American war the Spanish didn't actually attack you (likely the explosion on the Maine was an accident). Or what about the Mexican-American War? That too wasn't about defense.Our constitution tried to limit our wars to our defense and survival but that has not been the reason for the wars of the US since Eisenhower established the Military-Industrial Complex — Athena
Actually, the Emirate of Afghanistan tried to give Osama bin Laden to the US. That wasn't at all enough for the US. In fact, the Trump Doha peace deal is hugely more lenient than what Bush demanded in 2001. In 2001 the Taliban would have immediately jumped on such deal that Trump now gave them. And how much "diplomatic effort" there was can be seen that the war was started only a few weeks after 9/11.. The US was not in Afghanistan because it was a nation that threatened our nation. — Athena
Nobody said Pakistanis were Arab. I just said that there was once a brilliant Arab civilization. I don't think this is in dispute by any serious historian. — Olivier5
Yes, and that civilization surpassed Christian Europe. My above post was too long so quickly I say in this short post, the enemy is not Islam. The enemy is backward people who think they are doing the will of God, not so different from some Christians. War is good for religion and religion is good for war. — Athena
I can see no “Arab civilization” in India. — Apollodorus
Note that you can't see an Indian civilization in Arabia either. — Olivier5
I meant the Abbasid caliphate, as you must know. They lasted over 400 years, which ain't that bad. — Olivier5
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