WILL THE REAL TALIBAN PLEASE STAND UP?

WILL THE REAL TALIBAN PLEASE STAND UP?

 BY PAUL MIRENGOFF IN AFGHANISTAN, JOE BIDEN

That’s the question naively being asked these days. Thus, today’s Washington Post features this frontpage headline (paper edition): “Afghanistan’s future hinges on whether Taliban’s new face is real.”

The answer to whether the real Taliban will stand up is, yes, unfortunately. The answer to whether the Taliban’s “new face” is real is, no, unfortunately.

The Post quotes Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the U.S. and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He says:

It is simply a liberal fantasy that somebody who is willing to fight and die for a belief system will modify that belief system just to get recognition from unbelievers. They keep saying it will not be as harsh as the last time, which means they won’t lash everyone on the first day. But the rules are the same.

Of course.

Afghanistan’s future is sealed. Joe Biden’s is still up for grabs, and it depends on whether the Taliban will maintain its new, false face long enough for Americans to get out of Afghanistan without being harmed and/or taken hostage.

That’s an open question. The Taliban’s political leaders are talking as if they will facilitate the exit of Americans and go easy on those who are stranded.

But even if they are sincere, do they really speak for the Taliban? Haqqani and other analysts tell the Post that real power lies not with the group’s political leadership, but with its religious authorities, especially supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, backed by a powerful military wing with commanders on either side of the Afghan-Pakistani border. The religious authorities may not feel bound by the statements of political leaders, even assuming these statements are sincere.

There’s also the problem of command and control. Can any Taliban leaders, political, religious, or military, prevent local forces from killing stray Americans? And, with other terrorist factions besides the Taliban operating in Afghanistan, can we be confident that Americans won’t fall into the hands of groups that don’t take orders from the Taliban?

These, I think, are the key questions for Americans right now, and the key questions when it comes to assessing the damage the Afghanistan debacle will inflict on Joe Biden and his party.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/will-the-real-taliban-please-stand-up.php