At the same time as the Taliban is strengthening its grip on Afghan society, Islamists around the world are expressing considerable joy.
The comments expresses the writer’s opinions.
Even the so-called “democratically elected” Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has begun to note that «Finally Afghanistan is free from the shackles of slavery». In Britain, the Islamist activist has Anjem Choudary congratulated, and expressed the desire that the Taliban will practice the strictest possible sharia.
There will be a major showdown with the recently ended western presence in the country. However, we must not deny other countries’ participation in the disaster.
This is especially true of Pakistan.
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For decades, Pakistan has been one of the biggest supporters of Islamist groups in Afghanistan. The country’s powerful intelligence service (ISI) has actively supported groups since the 1950s, and will most likely continue to do so in the coming years.
Even during Obama’s presidency, it was pretty clear that Pakistan is one of the biggest contributors to the Taliban’s development and strength.
In a report from 2008 it is pointed out that one of the most important tasks for the US president will be to get Pakistan away from being a greenhouse for the terrorist organization. But little was done to stop the development.
More and more people have understood that without the support of the Pakistani intelligence and defense elite, the Taliban would not be much more than an annoyance.
This process has taken time. Nevertheless, the willingness to influence Pakistan and the country’s leadership has been minimal.
The reasons are many. Among other things, Pakistan’s access to nuclear weapons, and the fact that the country is considered an ally in the war on terror.
It is worth recalling that Osama Bin Laden was found and killed by US special forces, precisely in Pakistan in 2011. He had, for over ten years, been just a short walk from one of Pakistan’s prestigious military educational institutions.
Taliban founder and longtime leader Mullah Omar is said to have died at a hospital in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
Here you can read more comments by Mahmoud Farahmand
Started before 1979
Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan did not begin with the Soviet invasion in 1979, but were already in the 1950s with their activities in the country. Jamaat-e-Islami was the first organization used to influence the situation in Afghanistan.
At the time, it could be said that Pakistan had legitimate concerns. Afghanistan was an annoyance to the newly established post-colonial state of Pakistan. The Afghans invaded Pakistani Balouchestan, and nurtured Pashtun nationalism.
In 1973/74, under Zulfakir Bhuttos reign, a separate unit was established in Pakistan’s rather formidable intelligence service (ISI) with Afghanistan as its target.
The unit was to assess militant groups that could carry out operations in the neighboring country. This is long before the Soviet invasion.
By 1979, ISI had set up and trained over 50 groups. These later became part of the Mujahedin movements that fought against the Soviet army.
The West and the United States – but what about the neighbors?
During the years NATO was present in Afghanistan, much of the Taliban’s operations were controlled from the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the Taliban were headquartered.
When I myself served in Afghanistan, it was known that the Taliban’s leaders in Afghanistan traveled undisturbed back and forth to Pakistan via the border crossing in Spin Buldak.
It often emerged that this was known to several of the parties, but little was done to actively prevent this. This border crossing was also used to supply the Taliban with weapons and equipment.
It is so all too easy to blame the West and the United States for the state of Afghanistan, and the fall of the Afghan forces.
There is no doubt that it is the neighbors who bear the greatest responsibility for the Taliban’s strength and success, and not least the state of Afghanistan.
It is these countries that have provided the Taliban with refuge for two decades, trained their warriors and provided them with materiel. It is also these countries that have indirectly contributed to the loss of diverse civilian lives.
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When the settlement of the failed defeat of the Taliban now comes, it is important that these moments have as much place as the blame for failed Western intervention and peacekeeping.
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