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[–][deleted] 31 insightful - 1 fun31 insightful - 0 fun32 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

It is just the latest Taliban atrocity, despite group's claim to be more moderate

Who are the fucking morons who believed that? You'd have to be fucking brain dead to believe the Taliban would be moderate. Even moderate Islamic rule is an absolute nightmare for LGB and women. Islam is incompatible with human rights and I'm so fucking tired of woke assholes defending it.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

It's tricky.

Islamic theocracy (or, indeed, any kind of theocracy) is incompatible with human rights, the rights of women and girls, and LGB people, you're certainly right there.

But I think a lot of people in the West, and other places besides, are hoping that they can leverage the Taliban's desire for legitimacy as a way of 'improving' the lot of the people still in Afghanistan.

The Taliban don't want to be seen as the pariah failed state they once were. When they controlled the country before, the only other countries that officially recognised them were Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan, and things quickly soured after 9/11. Now, things seem to be different.

Both Russia and China have kept their embassies in Kabul open with Taliban protection, and both Moscow and Beijing received Taliban delegations over the summer. Iran, Pakistan and Turkey have all also been enjoying America's discomfiture.

All this seems to suggest that it will be difficult for countries in the West to prevent the Taliban from achieving diplomatic recognition. Boris Johnson and Joe Biden are both clearly against this, and Boris has urged the other G7 countries to avoid bilateral recognition.

So I think some people can tentatively take the Taliban at their word, by exchanging recognition and legitimacy for moderation when it comes to human rights etc.

But as the attacks on the airport and the article OP linked suggest, things aren't off to a particularly promising start.

[–]ChunkeeguyTeam T*RF Fuck Yeah[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

[–]JulienMayfair 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

China wants access to the billions or trillions of dollars of rare earth mineral resources sitting unexploited in Afghanistan, and China doesn't care about human rights.

There are so many entities in that region working against U.S. interests that it was never going to be possible to sustain a U.S.-supported democracy there. They did not want the U.S. to have a friendly base of operations in the region or for U.S. based companies to be able to mine Afghanistan's mineral resources.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Absolutely, but the Taliban need the Chinese on side as much as the Chinese want those sweet resources. They know that if their hardcore Islamist nonsense spreads across the border into Xinjiang (already a febrile area at the best of times) the Chinese will shut that shit down double fast.

[–]JulienMayfair 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yes, China -- as they have proven in recent years -- would not hesitate to employ brutal methods to achieve their ends.

[–]Chipit 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, China America -- as they have proven in recent years -- would not hesitate to employ brutal methods to achieve their ends.