Who Are The Taliban And Isis? ~ Why Is America Capitulating?

In the past few days, in Kabul, Afghanistan, we have seen a repeat of the 1975 Fall Of Saigon.  America and our allies have been kicked out of Afghanistan by a much smaller army of militant followers of the Taliban - bringing chaos, terror, and panic - so similar to that sad 1975 day in Saigon. 

Two questions must be on the minds of all Americans and our allies in other countries:  (1) How did the greatest military force in the world, America, supported by allied nations, allow this to happen?  And (2) Would this have happened if President Trump was still in office?

Answers: 

(1) It would seem that Joe Biden has been more concerned with continued trashing of President Trump - and both Biden and his Intelligence Agencies have been caught with their pants down.

(2)  President Trump had, in 2020, initiated and signed a Peace Agreement with the Taliban.  With President Trump in office, there would have been prompt and decisive action taken if and when the Taliban broke that agreement.  Joe Biden, on the other hand, seemed to be "asleep at the wheel" and apparently was totally unaware of what was happening in Afghanistan.

The following is an article from I World News about this current chaotic disaster.  I hope it will help you better understand the situation in Afghanistan, and why it is happening:

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The Taliban And Isis: The Relationship Between The Groups Explained And What It Means For Afghanistan
By Jaymi McCann, a freelance journalist on politics and human rights living in London
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/taliban-isis-afghanistan-groups-terror-relationship-explained-1168826

  ~ ~ The "I News," a British national morning paper published in London by Daily Mail and General Trust and distributed across the United Kingdom
explains that both factions are armed Sunni Islamist extremist groups who want to impose harsh interpretations of sharia law – but they are rivals, not allies. ~ ~

Taliban Fighters Patrol In Kabul, Afghanistan  ~  In the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realization of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival (America) in what it considers its backyard.  Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring instability to that backyard - Central Asia - and possibly even spill over the border into China itself in its heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.

August 26, 2021:   President Joe Biden Has Warned Of The Risk Of A Terror Attack In Kabul By Isis After The Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan:

 

Bill Gray Note:  Gee, you think so?

 

But what are the differences between the Taliban and Isis, also known as Isis-K in Afghanistan?  And why are they rivals and not allies?  Here’s everything you need to know.  Who are the two groups?

Both The Taliban And Isis Are Sunni Islamist Extremist Groups Who Wish To Form States Under Sharia Law:

However, they are not actually allies, and they have fought (one another) since 2015 when Isis moved into Afghanistan, forming the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (Isis-K), and attracting defectors from the Taliban who were unsatisfied with their own group’s progress, and felt it was not strict enough. 

August 19, 2021:  Taliban Fighters Patrol In Kabul, Afghanistan:

Fighting broke out between the two groups in June 2015 after then-Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour wrote to Isis chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, telling him to stop recruiting Taliban defectors.

There was more fighting in November of the same year.  This time it was between Taliban factions over whether to join forces with Isis.

In April 2017 Isis-K captured three Taliban drug dealers selling opium to raise money in northern Afghanistan.  And 22 were killed in battles between the groups at the Iranian border in May 2017.

In the summer of 2018, however, the Taliban succeeded in clearing Isis-K out of out of the northern province of Jowzjan, and the US and Afghan armies almost completely defeated them in the following years.

IN 2020, When The Taliban Signed The Peace Deal With Then-President Donald Trump, it promised to fight extremist groups, including Isis.

What is Isis-K?  How The Terrorist Group Is Trying To Benefit From The Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan ~ Taliban leaders have committed to preventing Isis from gaining from the situation in Afghanistan, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying: “We assure you that we will not let Isis become active in the country, in the areas under our control.  As for the presence of terrorists from other countries, I completely deny this.  There are no terrorists from Central Asia or China in the country.  We will prevent them from entering the country.”

The two groups have clashed over other matters such as the drug trade, which has been used to finance militancy.  For example, Isis-K believe that opium poppy cultivation is Un-Islamic. 

What is the history of the Taliban? ~ The Taliban was formed in 1994 during the civil war in Afghanistan, which broke out when the government put in place during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s fell and various factions of the Mujahideen, which had fought against the government, then fought against each other.

One of those factions was the Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammed Omar.  It wanted to impose a particularly strict interpretation of Islamic law, and quickly took over a swathe of the country, before reaching Kabul in 1996 and establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Bill Gray Note:  It seems the whole world KNEW that the Taliban was rapidly taking over Afghanistan, piece by piece, for a long time.  Why was Joe Biden not fully aware of this happening - and put in place a means of stopping the Taliban, as we did before?  Was Joe Biden sleeping - or playing golf all this time?

When is the Afghanistan evacuation deadline?  Latest on Taliban extension talks and what’s happening in Kabul:

The Taliban regime enforced its extreme interpretation of Sharia law - and the country became a safe haven for extremists such as al Qaeda.  The Taliban’s refusal to hand over al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, sparked the invasion of Afghanistan by the US, UK, and other countries – which led to the fall of the Taliban regime.

Bill Gray Note:  With our allies, America stopped the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan before.  Why are we and our allies now meekly handing the country over to the Taliban on a silver platter?  Could that be because of Joe Biden timidity and lack of backbone, or his lack of awareness that he is currently sitting in the most powerful office in the world, the White House Oval Office?

However, the Taliban then launched an insurgency which has continued for the past 20 years – culminating in their retaking of Afghanistan, and the US withdrawal.

What Is The History Of ISIS? ~ The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), also known as Isil and Daesh, was formed in 1999 by Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.  But it did not receive global attention until 2014 when it started to gain key cities in Iraq, including Mosul.

Isis Declared A Worldwide Caliphate – a political and religious Muslim state, and then moved into Syria, taking the city of Raqqa.

However they lost these key cities in 2017 to Iraqi government forces and Syrian anti-Isis fighters, backed by international military support and air power, and by 2019, the “Caliphate” had fallen.

When Al-Qaeda Hijackers Killed Nearly 3,000 People On September 11, 2001 ~ the United States instantly took on a new mission as a furious and fearful nation coalesced around president George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" that would obliterate the rest of the international agenda.  Twenty years later, the world has transformed.

An all-consuming focus on terrorism has given way to a weariness about "forever wars" - days before the September 11 anniversary, Taliban militants who had been swiftly defeated after the 2001 attacks - seized back power in Afghanistan amid a US withdrawal.

Bill Gray Note:  Shades of 1975 Saigon - all over again!   Let's look back a bit:  In 1941, after Americans were attacked in Pearl Harbor - America joined the war against aggression such as Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler's attacks on our allies in Britain and Europe.  ALL AMERICANS stood with President Roosevelt and our military in defeating those aggressors.  All America was committed to the defeat of Japan and Nazi Germany.

Since then, after politicians took control of the wars, America has been humiliated over and over - for withdrawing without a victory. 

In 1950, when North Korea and Red China attacked South Korea, we went to the aid of our ally, South Korea.  But in 1953, America in effect withdrew, we accepted a Cease Fire instead of a Peace Treaty, i.e., America capitulated!   As a result, a state of war still exists in Korea, South Korea and America - against North Korea and China.

In the early 1960s, President Kennedy sent troops into Vietnam, calling them advisors.  President Johnson escalated that war - but in the end, America withdrew, i.e., America capitulated!

In 1991, when Iraq attacked Kuwait, President Bush, Sr., sent American forces into the Gulf War - with some measures of success.

In 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists attacked America at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, taking some 3000 lives - President Bush, Jr., began America's "War On Terrorism."  That war spilled over into Afghanistan - and after 20 years and a number of victories, America is again withdrawing, i.e., America is capitulating once again!

WHEN will America stop "withdrawing, i.e., capitulating" amid political chaos?  America should either stay out of those wars - or - stay committed to winning those wars as swiftly and as absolute as possible?  Allowing the politicians to turn each war into a political football, as a means of winning elections, results in a much greater loss of lives, military and civilian.

More recently, in 2020 and 2021, Isis has staged campaigns in Africa, hitting countries such as Nigeria and Mozambique.

In Afghanistan Isis-K has expressed its desire to launch attacks on Western powers and the UN, unlike the Taliban.  There are also concerns it could try to attack Kabul.

According to the "Centre for Strategic Studies" - Isis-K boasted around 800 fighters in October 2018.  It peaked in size in 2016 with up to 4,000 militant members.

What Is Happening Now? ~ The Taliban claims to have executed the former leader of Isis-K, Abu Omar Khorasani, after releasing him from jail along with other terrorist fighters.

The group (Isis-K) is thought to be the most likely to launch a terror attack on Kabul airport, where Western forces are seeking to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban.  Afghanistan aid workers forced to hide in their homes after Taliban takeover but Red Cross vows not to give up.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Biden said Isis-K was planning to target the airport.  Biden said, “I’m mindful of the increasing risk (which) I’ve been briefed on and the need to factor those risks in.  They’re real… starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as Isis-K, an ISIS affiliate which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban,” he said.  “Every day we’re on the ground is another day ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport."

Bill Gray Note:  Is Joe Biden "asleep at the wheel" and has been caught with his pants down?  Has the Biden administration so neutered our Intelligence organizations, that they, too, have been "asleep at the wheel" and did not know the intent of the Taliban and Isis?  Or does Joe Biden not want to rock the boat against countries who are his source of "family financial wealth" and election donations?

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My American Friends, today we had 13 American Marines killed by terrorists in Afghanistan.   What would President Trump do in a situation like this?

We all are familiar with the Christian acronym:  WWJD - for "What Would Jesus Do" in this or a similar situation?

How about a new acronym based upon that same thought:  WWTD - FOR "What Would Trump Do" in a similar situation?

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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