Terrorism

China is brimming with optimism about the Taliban in Afghanistan. But a bombing that killed scores of people, including 13 American troops, outside the Kabul airport on August 26 has led many to distrust the Islamic group’s promise to not let anyone use the land-locked country’s soil to target another.

One adjective that should never be used to describe the US retreat from Afghanistan is “surprising.” In fact, what happened in Kabul in 2021 was the natural next step on the inward-turning path Americans began walking in 2009.

With the West on the run, increased activity by terrorists, and the Taliban inexorably exerting control across the country, we need to be aware of what is happening to real people, right now in Afghanistan.

Let’s take a look at the players, the victims, the outbidding cycle, and why ISIS-K is likely to ramp up the violence in Afghanistan. All of this suggests much more violence that will target Christians and Shia Muslims, as well as more oppression of highly (Western) educated people, women, and others who may not bend to the new social order.

So, should we stay indefinitely in places like Afghanistan and Iraq? The answer depends on whether the costs are worth the benefits compared to American interests in other parts of the world.

Robert G. Morrison reflects on the fall of Afghanistan and the lack of religious freedom there.

In a recent conversation led by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on the exodus of religious minority communities in Afghanistan, various scholars and leaders spoke on the current and anticipated plight of such groups, especially the Sikh and Hindu communities.

History may not repeat itself, as Mark Twain is credited with saying, but it does indeed rhyme sometimes. Sadly, the American people and their leaders are not interested in the rhymes or lessons of history.

Leila Khaled, a notorious terrorist leader, was again prevented from speaking virtually at a California public university-sponsored event.