Publication of painful and sad images of Kabul Airport on social media has once again highlighted the current atrocities and barbarism in Afghanistan, for all the world to see. People desperate to escape the brutality of the Taliban have had to run for their lives. Humans have fallen from the fuselage of aeroplanes, and the remains of human bodies have been discovered in the wheels of a plane. A mother who could not enter the airport sent her baby to the other side so that at least the baby would survive… It does not end there, and these images evoke great shame; images that words cannot describe; images that depict the savagery of degenerate capitalism only too well.

In the 1980s, during the Cold War and following the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, at the initiative of Britain and the US, and with the help of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the Afghan Mujahideen were formed as infantry in the imperialist policy of the Western Bloc. The Western Bloc trained the Afghan Mujahideen militarily, equipped them with the most modern equipment and provided them with material and propaganda support so that they could better serve the Western Bloc’s imperial interests. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the domination of Afghanistan by the Islamic Mujahideen, a power struggle broke out between Islamic criminals. At that time, to end the war of power of the Afghan Mujahideen, and to create “stability” in Afghanistan, the Taliban alternative asserted itself as a necessity. In 1994, the Taliban was formed from the Mujahideen with the support of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, and with a green light from the US, until it was able to rule all of Afghanistan in 1996 and establish its own Islamic Emirate. Formation of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan was the product of a degenerate, dirty capitalist system.

The fact that today the “rabid animals” that call themselves the Taliban are beyond the control of their creators does not make the slightest difference to the nature of the problem. Hamas was created and developed by Israel to reduce the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization and has been out of Israel’s control for years, becoming a bloody enemy of Israel. The US and Britain produced al-Qaeda and the Afghan Mujahideen in pursuit of their imperialist interests. These entities grew, and as they did so, the US and Britain lost control of them.

In 2001, the US overthrew the Taliban under the guise of humanitarianism and counterterrorism. No economic gain can justify the US invasion of Afghanistan. Was the reason for the US attack on Afghanistan to counter terrorism?

Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the US could no longer exercise its hegemony, as it had during the Cold War. Former allies were pursuing their own interests, and the horizon of new alliances was opening up. The US needed to maintain its hegemony and the hegemony of the dollar. Therefore, in order to maintain its hegemony in the new world order and weaken its rivals, the US launched the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so on. These wars were not only meant to line up Europeans behind the US but also, in a way, elicit acceptance of American hegemony from Japan, China and even Russia.

But the US has long had serious problems exercising its hegemony. Europeans are pursuing their own interests, and formation of the European Union not only led to a rise in the euro’s share of economic exchanges but also a significant increase in the Chinese yuan’s share of the market. The US economy is no longer  dominates the global market and can no longer afford to be the gendarmes of the world. NATO has been severely weakened. The Chinese giant has emerged, and Russia, after a long period of inability, wants to play a serious role in global developments. In other words, the game of political chess has changed. The US is losing its position as the world’s police.

Under such circumstances, the US is also pursuing its own agenda in the new global context. The United States must pull out of costly wars in order to use its resources and capabilities to contain new rivals. Focusing on new and strategic competitors such as China has become more important. Under the new circumstances, the US presence in Southeast Asia has a higher priority than its presence in the Middle East. Of course, the United States is unlikely to leave the Middle East, but it will prioritize its capabilities according to its defeats. It also has military bases in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and so on.

Contrary to Biden’s claims that the US has achieved its goal of neutralizing terrorism and is therefore leaving Afghanistan, reality would suggest otherwise. Biden is continuing to do what began even before Trump: managing the failure of the new world order. All those countries with some kind of imperialist interest in Afghanistan have been preparing for the post-collapse period of the new world order. The first step in this direction was the opening of a Taliban representative office in Qatar in June 2013, which was more like an embassy (with the flag and logo of the Islamic Emirate) than a representative office. The representative office was one of the centres for Taliban negotiations with foreign powers for political, financial and weapons reinforcements. Pakistan has not only had ties to the Taliban but has been one of the Taliban’s most important supporters. Russia has been in contact with the Taliban for years, and a Taliban delegation has travelled to Moscow at an official invitation. China also has ties to the Taliban. Mullah Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy leader, also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his official visit to China. India has spent billions of dollars on hundreds of projects in Afghanistan; the Indians quietly went to Qatar and negotiated with the Taliban. Mike Pompeo’s (US delegation) meeting with Taliban representatives was the last part of managing the failure of the new US world order. Iran also welcomed a delegation from the Taliban in order not to lag behind the convoy.

Pakistan, Turkey, China, Russia and Iran will try to use the weakening of NATO and the US for their own imperialist interests. Although the Taliban’s victory has been in their interests, it will also bring them significant problems in the long run. Taliban victory could fuel Uyghur terrorism in China. Russia fears the Taliban’s rise to power will grow Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia. Pakistan fears that the Pakistani Taliban will grow and that the “honeymoon” period of the Taliban’s proximity to Islamic criminals in Iran will not last much longer, and so on.

Only three countries – Russia, China and Pakistan – have not evacuated their embassies. The Taliban has described China as a friendly country and said that it would not allow Uyghur terrorists to enter Afghanistan. However, Afghanistan’s stability plays an important role in China’s “one belt and one road” plan. The Taliban has also given guarantees to Russia. The Taliban has stated that it wants good relations with Turkey’s “Islamic Brotherhood” and hopes that cooperation and economic assistance will be part of that relationship. The Taliban is likely to show some tolerance in order to consolidate its position and gain international support with rival criminals, but it will eventually have to come to terms with a new round of tensions. In other words, the rise of the Taliban will not bring stability and security; rather, a new round of crises and tensions will ensue in Afghanistan and the region.

In general, the Taliban’s rise to power will serve to destabilize the region. The modern equipment recently acquired by the Taliban will help further this issue. The US has delivered about $28 billion worth of weapons since the overthrow of the Taliban, to rebuild the Afghan army. The modern weapons that ensured the military superiority of the Afghan army are now in the hands of the Taliban, including modern-day intelligence drones. The US is concerned that some of this equipment could fall into the hands of China or Russia.

The war of big and small gangsters is rooted in the decadence of the capitalist system. Capitalism reeks of blood, filth, war, barbarism, etc., and only the working class can offer an alternative to this barbarism. The global working class has a great responsibility in the absence of Afghan working class intervention. Instead of being cannon fodder in the gangsters’ war, we should try to achieve the communist revolution in order to end the misery of capitalism.

M. Jahangiry

24 August 2021

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