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  1. #951
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    ^ I think so. There are just too many groups seeing an opportunity to further their own interests.

  2. #952
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    Comforting is that there are some who do not suffer from the war(s).

    And the year 2021 is not yet fully accounted..

    And the winner is? (scroll down...)


    U.S. leaves its last Afghan base, effectively ending operations-lockheed-jpg


    (Lockheed-Martin)

  3. #953
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    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    ^ I think so. There are just too many groups seeing an opportunity to further their own interests.
    Especially as there is no central government nor an occupying force there to direct the narrative

  4. #954
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    Putin says Taliban not homogenous and incorporate but mostly Pashtun tribes


    VLADIVOSTOK (TASS): Despite developments in Afghanistan, the West is reluctant to stop imposing its standards on other countries, and developed countries aren’t providing enough assistance to others in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Friday.


    “The reality is that the Taliban movement now controls almost all of Afghanistan,” Putin pointed out. “So, we should be guided by reality,” he added.


    According to him, the country’s disintegration is what poses the main threat to Moscow. “Russia is not interested in a disintegrated Afghanistan. If it happens, there will be no one to talk with,” Putin noted.


    At the same time, in his words, the situation in Afghanistan can be described as a disaster. “It is a disaster because the Americans, who are very pragmatic people, spent over $1.5 trillion on this campaign, and what’s the result? And if we look at the number of people left in Afghanistan, who used to work for the collective West, the United States and its allies, then it will be clear that it is a humanitarian disaster, too,” the Russian president stressed.


    Putin called for bearing in mind the realities, such as the Taliban’s control of nearly the whole territory of Afghanistan.


    “The realities as they are, the Taliban movement controls nearly the whole territory of Afghanistan, except for Panjshir and the adjoining territories to the north, small territories that border on Tajikistan. If this is so, we must proceed from the realities,” Putin said. He recalled that the movement was not homogenous and incorporated mostly Pashtun tribes.


    “In the territory of Afghanistan today there are many representatives of other organizations, including extremist ones: the Islamic State and so on. Many people, including radical elements, have been released from jail,” Putin said.


    Putin said that he had discussed Afghanistan “with many counterparts” lately. The events in Afghanistan pose a threat to the Asian countries neighboring Russia, and consequently, Russia as well, he explained.


    “In the event of [Afghanistan’s] disintegration, there will be nobody to talk to in Afghanistan. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and many others in the territory of Afghanistan pose a threat to our allies and neighbors. And if we remember that we have no visa restrictions and cross-border travel is actually free, it will be clear that for us, for Russia, all this has great importance from the standpoint of maintaining our security,” Putin said.


    At the same time, he believes it is necessary to pool efforts, to struggle with problems together and to achieve the legalization of political forces in Afghanistan.


    “It is crucial to do this, to pool efforts. But when I see some high-ranking officials, in the very same United States, say that ‘first we will use force to liberate’ and then focus efforts on the further struggle against China or Russia, I feel like telling them: first you should sort things out with those you have been fighting against for the past 20 years, and then start talking about resistance to Russia and China,” Putin said.


    He urged everybody to never forget that the US introduced its troops to Afghanistan after the heinous terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and that the whole operation was devoted to the fight against terrorism.


    “Unity is required to effectively resist terrorism, which is precisely the reason why the US forces were moved to Afghanistan, and to struggle against drug trafficking and organized crime. These are common threats and they can be effectively fought against only by presenting a common front,” Russian President Vladimir Putin added.


    “If a nation needs democracy, it will end up establishing it so there is no need to do that by force,” Putin emphasized. However, even after Afghanistan, the West continues to pursue the same practice. “As for Afghanistan, they say: we got there and made a lot of mistakes. However, the same process continues in relation to other countries. What are sanctions? They are a continuation of the same policy aimed at imposing their standards,” he specified.


    Still, there is hope that Western countries “will realize that acting like before and trying to civilize other nations is a failed policy.”


    “It is the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council, particularly its five permanent members, that should be responsible for maintaining global order,” Putin pointed out.


    Also, Chinese President Xi Jinping told the Eastern Economic Forum that Beijing calls for pooling efforts to implement a global security concept.


    “We should pool our efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region, overcome differences and enhance mutual understanding through dialogue and consultations, implement the concept of comprehensive and stable global security for the construction of our common home where harmony and calm will reign,” he pointed out.

    Putin says Taliban not homogenous and incorporate but mostly Pashtun tribes - The Frontier Post

  5. #955
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    Dare I say it- rather Statesmanlike, and quite conciliatory to the USA.

  6. #956
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    A little ironic that he did not bother to mention the failed Soviet occupation.

  7. #957
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    Would you have, if you were he? Anyway, that were those USSR commies.

  8. #958
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    China Promised To Keep Afghan Embassy, Increase Humanitarian Aid: Taliban

    Kabul: A Taliban spokesman said Friday that China has promised to keep its embassy in Afghanistan open and to increase humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged country.


    Abdul Salam Hanafi, a member of the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar, "held a phone conversation with Wu Jianghao, Deputy Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China," spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted.


    "The Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister said that they would maintain their embassy in Kabul, adding our relations would beef up as compared to the past. Afghanistan can play an important role in security and development of the region," he said.


    "China will also continue and increase its humanitarian assistance especially for treatment of covid-19," the spokesman continued.


    There was no immediate confirmation from Beijing.


    Much of the world has adopted a wait-and-see approach to engagement with the Taliban as they shift gears from an insurgent group to governing power.


    But China has repeatedly slammed what it sees as a hasty and ill-planned withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States and has said it is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with the Taliban following their takeover.


    China's embassy in Kabul remains operational, although Beijing began evacuating Chinese citizens from the country months ago as security deteriorated.


    But Beijing has not yet recognised the Taliban as the de facto government and is wary of the terrorist group providing support to Muslim-minority Uyghur separatists looking to infiltrate its sensitive border region of Xinjiang.


    For Beijing, a stable and cooperative administration in Kabul would pave the way for an expansion of its overseas infrastructure drive, analysts say.


    The Taliban, meanwhile, may consider China a crucial source of investment and economic support.

    Chinese companies have also been eyeing Afghanistan's vast copper and lithium mines, but experts say the perilous security situation means any immediate commodities rush by investors is unlikely.

    China Promised To Keep Afghan Embassy, Increase Humanitarian Aid: Taliban Spokesperson Suhail Shaheen

  9. #959
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Dare I say it- rather Statesmanlike, and quite conciliatory to the USA.
    As one would expect now that the US has left. US keeping the Taliban occupied for 20 years most certainly was beneficial to Russia and China.

    Now it's "why can't we just get along".

  10. #960
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    US keeping the Taliban occupied for 20 years most certainly was beneficial to Russia and China.
    As well as US arms manufacturers. Odd bedfellows. But Bedfellows nonetheless.

  11. #961
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Putin says Taliban not homogenous and incorporate but mostly Pashtun tribes
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Dare I say it- rather Statesmanlike
    In stating the obvious which every child with a book on geography knows?

    You have a very low threshold for what you consider "Statesmanlike".

  12. #962
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    Well that's your opinion- I have no prob with that. But lets just say he could have chosen the low road, given the often vitriolic rhetoric between the US and Russia. Didn't Biden call him a killer? Under the circumstances, he sounded statesmanlike and conciliatory to me. But I'm not lauding him for being a Churchillian orator just yet.

  13. #963
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Didn't Biden call him a killer?
    I don't know, did he? If so then he was right.



    Seriously, though, aside from the 'conciliatory' tone his amazement at Afghanistan not being a homogenous society is Trump-worthy

  14. #964
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Didn't Biden call him a killer?
    Do you dispute that?

  15. #965
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    Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, civilian flights to operate soon: Qatari ambassador

    The runway at Kabul airport has been repaired in cooperation with authorities in Afghanistan, the ambassador said, according to Al Jazeera.

    Reuters

    September 04, 2021 / 09:45 PM IST



    Domestic flights restart


    "Ariana Afghan Airlines has resumed some flights in Afghanistan between Kabul and three major provincial cities, the carrier has said, after a technical team from Qatar reopened the capital’s airport for aid and domestic services.

    Flights between Kabul and the western city of Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan and Kandahar in the south have started, the airline said in a statement on its Facebook page.
    “Ariana Afghan Airlines is proud to resume its domestic flights,” it said."


    Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, domestic flights restart | Reuters


    Kabul airport reopens to receive aid: Qatari envoy | Taliban News | Al Jazeera
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  16. #966
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    US wrestles with Taliban sanctions as Afghan crisis looms

    Financial institutions in the United States have been waiting for the Biden administration to clarify whether the property of Afghanistan is considered the property of the Taliban, banking industry officials said. Banks are concerned that they could be in violation of US sanctions if they facilitate transactions with the country.

    New York Times

    September 04, 2021 / 08:18 PM IST

    "America’s war in Afghanistan is over, but the fight over the Taliban’s finances is only beginning.The fate of billions of dollars of international reserves and foreign aid represents its own set of politically and legally fraught decisions as the world comes to grips with what Afghanistan will look like under Taliban rule. The stakes are extraordinarily high as millions of Afghans face the prospect of becoming collateral damage from a stranglehold of sanctions on the Taliban that remain in place, threatening to sink an economy that the United States has spent two decades trying to prop up.

    With a humanitarian crisis looming, the Biden administration is reviewing how to tailor that web of sanctions so that aid can continue to reach the Afghan people. The challenge is how to let donor money continue to flow without further enriching the Taliban, which the United States considers a terrorist organization. Experts say that such a situation, in which a group deemed to be terrorists takes over an entire country, is without precedent and poses a complex test for the United States' sanctions program.“This is a new world,” said Adam Smith, a senior sanctions official in the Obama administration’s Treasury Department. “I can’t think of any case in which a terrorist group that’s already designated became the power in charge of a full country.”

    He explained that the Treasury Department must soon decide what exceptions, or licenses, it would grant for certain kinds of transactions. It must also determine whether all of Afghanistan or only the Taliban leadership, remains under sanctions so that the world knows how to engage with the government.

    “We need to find a way to encourage goods and services into Afghanistan, or you’re going to have 30 million Afghans having collateral consequences here, and that’s going to be a disaster,” Smith said.

    As the Taliban swept into power last month, the United States swiftly acted to maintain as much leverage as possible. It blocked the Taliban's access to $9.5 billion in international reserve funds and pressured the International Monetary Fund to suspend distribution of more than $400 million in currency reserves.

    A Treasury Department official said the United States was not easing sanctions pressure on Taliban leaders or the significant restrictions on their access to the international financial system. The militant group continues to be classified as a specially designated global terrorist group, and they are also under United Nations sanctions, which the United States and other countries must enforce.But a desire to demonstrate some flexibility is already apparent. In the past week, the Treasury Department has signaled to humanitarian organizations that it is taking steps to permit aid work that benefits the Afghan people to continue. On Aug. 25, the agency issued a specific license, similar to what it has issued in places such as Syria and Venezuela, to allow for the delivery of food, shelter, medicine, and medical services to Afghanistan.

    There are also signs that financial flows into the country, which have been shut off for the past two weeks, are resuming.

    Financial institutions in the United States have been waiting for the Biden administration to clarify whether the property of Afghanistan is considered the property of the Taliban, banking industry officials said. Banks are concerned that they could be in violation of US sanctions if they facilitate transactions with the country.
    But Western Union said Thursday that it would resume money-transfer services into Afghanistan sothat its customers could send money to loved ones and that it would waive fees for wiring money into the country for two weeks. A company spokesperson said it made the decision after the U.S. government indicated that remittances to Afghanistan were permissible.A Treasury Department official confirmed that the agency had contacted financial institutions to relay that personal remittances were allowed.

    The Treasury Department does have experience trying to allow help to reach populations that are ruled by hostile governments and has issued licenses for humanitarian aid to arrive in such places. In June, it issued licenses allowing supplies for combating the coronavirus to be shipped to Iran, Syria, and Venezuela.
    A terrorist group presents its own challenges, however, and keeping aid money out of the hands of the Taliban will not be easy, especially if they control the country. The group is notorious for pilfering the wealth of Afghanistan’s citizens with exorbitant taxes, and an influx of food or medicine from abroad would be an opportunity for seizing and selling them to raise funds. Strict sanctions could also compel the Taliban to rely even more heavily on illicit finance and the drug trade, despite their public disavowal of such practices.

    The complexity of addressing the situation in Afghanistan comes as the Treasury Department conducts a broader review of its sanctions program. Critics have faulted the previous administration for haphazardly imposing sanctions, often undercutting their effectiveness. The Biden administration has said it is not conducting an intelligence review of specific sanctions, but rather focusing on ways to modernize the practice so that it is more effective.

    The White House this week made clear that it would not prematurely let go of any economic leverage over the Taliban. Biden administration officials insisted that such leverage would be important to ensure that the Taliban stick to their commitments to let Americans, permanent residents and Afghan citizens holding special immigrant visas to leave the country.

    “When we’re talking about Afghan reserves, Afghan access to the banking system, Afghan access to any kind of fundamental operation of the economy, think about the fact that the United States has basically been the steward of this for the last 20 years,” Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, told CNN.

    Arguing that the Taliban now have a degree of dependence on the United States, he added, “They understand the extent to which their ability to deliver anything for their citizens in the way of a functioning economy rests on the international community. It rests on the United States.”


    US Wrestles With Taliban Sanctions As Afghan Crisis Looms

  17. #967
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    Male Afghan evacuees trafficking their child brides into the US: State Department seeks 'urgent guidance' on older men presenting underage girls as their 'wives' at intake centers

    U.S. officials are looking into reports that older Afghan men were admitted together with girls they claim as 'brides' or otherwise sexually abused

    U.S. officials at intake centers in the United Arab Emirates and in Wisconsin have identified numerous incidents

    While child marriage is not uncommon in Afghanistan, the U.S. has strict policies against human trafficking

    One internal document seen by The Associated Press says the State Department has sought 'urgent guidance' from other agencies after purported child brides

    Another document says Afghan girls at a transit site in Abu Dhabi have alleged they have been raped by older men they were forced to marry to escape

    read more
    Male Afghan evacuees bringing child brides into the US | Daily Mail Online

  18. #968
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    Kabul women held their first protest yesterday. It didn't last very long because Taliban "special forces" came along and encouraged them to go home. None of your pepper spray or teargas...the sound of AK-47 rounds fired into the air gets quick results however

    The ladies have been assured inclusion in the new government but not in ministerial positions. Taliban minsters and their assistants need someone to make tea, clean the toilets and that kind of stuff, so of course they will have women working in the new parliament.
    Diversity and inclusion is top of Tali agenda. ��

  19. #969
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    Do you dispute that?
    No. Do you dispute the fact that every POTUS could indisputably be called a Killer too?

  20. #970
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    Quote Originally Posted by koman View Post
    Taliban minsters and their assistants need someone to make tea, clean the toilets and that kind of stuff, so of course they will have women working in the new parliament.
    As opposed to some countries where the ministers and their assistants clean the toilets by themselves...

  21. #971
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Financial institutions in the United States have been waiting for the Biden administration to clarify whether the property of Afghanistan is considered the property of the Taliban, banking industry officials said. Banks are concerned that they could be in violation of US sanctions if they facilitate transactions with the country.
    The funds belong to Afghanistan and sanctions should be lifted.
    Get on it Joe!

  22. #972
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    Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao Speaks with Deputy Head of the Afghan Taliban's Political Office in Doha Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi on the Phone

    2021/09/02

    "On September 2, 2021, Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao had a phone conversation with Deputy Head of the Afghan Taliban's Political Office in Doha Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi. Both sides exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan and issues of common concern.

    Wu Jianghao said, the situation in Afghanistan has witnessed a fundamental change, and the future and destiny of Afghanistan are once again in the hands of the Afghan people. The friendship between China and Afghanistan has stayed true for thousands of years, and China has always respected the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and has pursued a friendly policy toward all the Afghan people. He hopes that the country will achieve peace and stability and rebuild a beautiful homeland as soon as possible.

    Noting that China is a trustworthy friend of Afghanistan, Hanafi said, the Afghan Taliban is willing to further engage in developing friendly relations with China and will never allow any force to use the Afghan territory to threaten China's interests, and will take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in Afghanistan. The cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) advocated by China is conducive to the development and prosperity of Afghanistan and the region at large. And Afghanistan hopes to continue to actively support and participate in the BRI."

    Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao Speaks with Deputy Head of the Afghan Taliban's Political Office in Doha Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi on the Phone

  23. #973
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    No
    That was the question. Answered.



    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    As opposed to some countries where the ministers and their assistants clean the toilets by themselves..
    Yes, you're too thick to have read the other - pertinent - part.
    Quote Originally Posted by koman View Post
    The ladies have been assured inclusion in the new government but not in ministerial positions.
    So, tell us, Klongdick, where else are women not allowed to be in ministerial positions? Yes, you'll find two that don't have any but women aren't barred.

    Keep defending the indefensible

  24. #974
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    The funds belong to Afghanistan and sanctions should be lifted.
    as soon as they have a functioning government

  25. #975
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    as soon as they have a functioning government
    We may have to wait for a year or two before the current POTUS retires.

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