Afghanistan News Update #4

The rapid disintegration of the Afghan army in the face of the Taliban advance just days before the completion of the U.S. withdrawal left the U.S. government, together with its media, scrambling to maintain control of the narrative.

They blamed the defeat on their Afghan proxies. They also pointed to the unwillingness of Afghans to “fight for their country” and on Afghan “corruption and malfeasance.” This, instead of considering the corruption involved in occupying a sovereign country, as well as the weakness and illegitimacy of a non-popular government installed by an invading force. For the United States, proxy forces are ultimately as expendable as the multitudes of people the United States puts them in power to thwart.

Stories of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country with suitcases of cash were juxtaposed with those of the United States attempting to rescue Afghans from the Taliban. This group was an outgrowth of the Mujahideen forces the United States funded 40 years ago to destabilize an independent, progressive Afghan government.

According to many in the U.S. media, the “failure” of the United States was limited to a poorly-executed withdrawal and “failure to win,” omitting any discussion of the war’s illegality. Concern for women’s rights escalated as the withdrawal devolved into chaos, just as it was used to justify the initial invasion. Despite this rhetoric, thousands of women died during the war. Outside the bubble of walled and razor-wired military bases and militarized cities such as Kabul, the majority of Afghan women lived in poverty during the U.S./NATO occupation. 

Meanwhile, the majority of Afghans did not benefit from the trillions of Western dollars that flowed into the country. The economy under the occupation was largely a house of cards. It was built on military spending, rife with fraud, a patchwork of private Western NGOs and aid agencies, and a ballooning opium trade that purportedly funded U.S. covert operations. 

Rather than building a ‘functioning democracy’ and a lasting infrastructure to support the needs of the people, the trillions of U.S. dollars served only to enrich a small elite comprising weapons manufacturers, private contractors and wealthy holders of war debt, among others.

And now, after devastating the country with tens of thousands of bombs, the United States and its European allies offer no material support in rebuilding the country. 

Instead, they feign concern about the burgeoning humanitarian crisis, while waging economic warfare to exacerbate the rapid collapse of the economy. The imperialists immediately expanded sanctions against the Taliban and froze the country’s financial assets, blocking access to nearly a third of Afghanistan’s already low annual GDP. This unleashed severe currency devaluation, hyperinflation and skyrocketing food prices. In addition, the IMF suspended millions in planned emergency funding and froze funds specifically designated to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States demands an “inclusive government” to confer “legitimacy” on the Taliban as a condition for releasing needed funding. Yet, the United States routinely uses regime change and destruction against governments that have advanced women’s rights, while embracing brutal, patriarchal regimes that have condemned women to second-class status. 

U.S. President Joe Biden stated, “It’s the right… of the Afghan people alone to decide their future.” But it is clear the U.S. ruling class considers no country outside a small coterie of Western European states to possess any meaningful sovereignty. 

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan inaugurated the so-called “War on Terror.” That has since expanded into 80 countries across the world, leaving 6 million people dead and an estimated 37 million refugees. Predictably and fittingly, the United States left Afghanistan the way it came: With an arrogant display of horrendous violence amid suspicious claims and countless contradictions. A U.S. drone strike—supposedly in retaliation for the “ISIS-K terror attack” in Kabul—left seven children dead, marking the formal end of the war on Afghanistan.

The United States may have abandoned its military bases in Afghanistan, but nearly 800 U.S. bases remain across the world. That includes those bases encircling China and Russia, both considered a threat to the Western dominance of the world’s resources. Meanwhile, the United States continues to arm and infiltrate militaries across West Asia, Central Europe, Latin America and the African continent. Regime-change efforts and coups continue to target any government that resists Western control. Western weaponry washes across the world, with millions of dollars’ worth channeled to militarized police forces, domestically and abroad. This, while over a billion people suffer from the terror of economic sanctions. 

It’s uncertain what the U.S. empire now intends for Afghanistan and the region. China, Iran and Russia have expressed concern about potential instability from extremist groups amid the flood of refugees. Claims have escalated in U.S. media of a growing presence of Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, leaving open a window for further U.S. military action.

Yet, the end of the U.S. war on Afghanistan is a small victory for those fighting U.S. imperial power. The failure of the United States to dominate the region and control Afghan resources exposes a crack in the facade of U.S. power and supremacy, and offers hope to all countries and all peoples engaged in war against U.S. aggression.

For Further Reading

The end of the official U.S. occupation and the Taliban retakes power:

1. Afghanistan: The Longest US War Continues to a New Stage, CounterPunch

2. Escobar: What To Expect From Taliban 2.0, Zero Hedge

The U.S. continuation of war on Afghanistan via economic means:

1. Biden Administration Freezes Billions of Dollars in Afghan Reserves, Depriving Taliban of Cash, The Seattle Times

2. U.S. Plans – Sanctions and Famine for Afghanistan, Workers World

Afghanistan and the opium trade: 

1. Geopolitics, Profit, and Poppies: How the CIA Turned Afghanistan into a Failed Narco-State, Mint Press News

2. From History: Afghanistan and the CIA Heroin Ratline, Albilad

The U.S. use of terror in its “War on Terror”:

1. Blowback: Taliban target US intel's shadow army, The Cradle

2. How The CIA Used ISIS-K To Keep Its Afghanistan Business, Moon of Alabama

3. Enduring Terror Forever: From Al-Qaeda to ISIS-K, Orinoco Tribune

4. How the West Created the Islamic State, CounterPunch

To learn more about BAP’s work on Afghanistan, visit our resources page

Banner photo: A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians last month. A relative examines the damage. The U.S. has finally admitted that the strike was a mistake. (Jim Huylebroek / The New York Times)

Afghanistan News Update #3

Just days ago, some intelligence estimates figured it could take up to six months for the Taliban to seize control of Kabul in its sweeping campaign to reclaim power in Afghanistan. Yet, on Sunday, former President Ashraf Ghani formally resigned and fled the country. Now, Taliban officials reside in the presidential palace as they formalize their new government.

In just one week, the group captured dozens of provincial capitals and assumed control over borders shared with Iran and Tajikistan. The inevitability of this moment had been assured for weeks, but few could have predicted the rapid pace at which the U.S.-funded and -trained Afghan National Army would be defeated. Nevertheless, B-52 bombers and AC-130 gunships (courtesy of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, respectively) continued U.S. airstrikes last week. These planes have occupied the skies of Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. With one foot out the door, the United States and its NATO allies have maintained their shameless and criminal disregard for the Afghan people by growing the toll of death and destruction inflicted upon this nation since 2001.

Despite its withdrawal, the United States will not divert its gaze from Afghanistan. China and Russia are seeking to strengthen and expand their economic relationships across Central Asia. Maintaining U.S. hegemony in the region will require obstructing and undermining these relationships. Additionally, the United States has poured trillions of dollars into its half-century-long project of strangling Arab/Third World nationalism in its cradle, ranking widespread destabilization as a favored outcome in nations like Iraq, Iran, Syria and Yemen. The alternative would be a regional balance of power that threatens the dominance of U.S.-Israeli interests and interrupts the further accumulation of capital by the world’s foremost weapons manufacturers. That would imperil the very foundations of U.S. capitalism, imperialism and colonialism. The developments in Afghanistan may not alter Western objectives, but they will certainly influence them.

The latest reports from Washington indicate former mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and former President Hamid Karzai, two known CIA assets, are among the people coordinating with the Taliban on the formation of a new government. The aspirations of the Afghan people for peace, democratic governance and national sovereignty undoubtedly will be cast aside as this coordination takes place. Meanwhile, neighboring nations are absorbing a mounting outflow of refugees as Afghanistan confronts the enduring social, economic and political crises the United States has left in its wake. 

As far as accountability is concerned, the worst the United States will suffer internationally is criticism over the failure of its war and the mishandling of its withdrawal. But it will not experience a sanction of any kind for its innumerable criminal actions: The violation of Afghan sovereignty, the widespread use of torture, and the slaughter of tens of thousands of Afghan men, women and children. No reparations will be paid for the decades lost to war because of the lives lost; the myriad physical and psychological damage inflicted upon survivors; the destruction of homes, families, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure; and the toxic remains of two decades of bombings.

And while all eyes are on Afghanistan, the United States continues its other wars of aggression across the world, claiming to “fight terrorism”—the same excuse it used to invade Afghanistan 20 years ago. Biden recently authorized air strikes on Somalia, more U.S. Special Forces recently have moved into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the United States is continuing its mission to further destabilize the Horn of Africa by pushing for so-called "humanitarian intervention" in Ethiopia. That country has been added to the nearly 40 that are under some form of deadly U.S. sanctions that deprive countries of food, fuel and medicine. Meanwhile, the United States remains entrenched in Iraq, reportedly expanding its Ain al-Asad base despite calls for its withdrawal. All this while it claims to be withdrawing its combat forces from Iraq. Over in Syria, the United States continues the destabilization effort, as well as stealing Syrian resources. Meanwhile, Haiti struggles to effectively respond to yet another natural disaster because of the more than a century’s worth of U.S./Western imperialist aggression. 

While the United States claims to be ending its war on Afghanistan, U.S. wars never end until the empire controls a country's resources or its geostrategic capabilities for the benefit of Western capital. Perhaps the latest developments in Afghanistan will inspire more resistance to U.S. occupation in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere around the world.

U.S. Scrambles to Evacuate Embassy as Taliban Sweeps Across Afghanistan

• U.S. President Joe Biden has deployed 6,000 U.S. troops to oversee the hurried evacuation of U.S. nationals remaining in Kabul. Diplomats spent their final days destroying sensitive materials before their departure. (President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan after Taliban enters Kabul, Washington Post)

U.S. Airstrikes in Southern Kandahar Province Kill At Least 38 Civilians 

• According to local reports, 20 civilians lost their lives, and a health clinic and school were destroyed, after U.S. airstrikes hit the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, while 18 civilians, including women and children, have been killed during airstrikes on the city of Kandahar.

(Afghanistan: Clashes claim 20 civilians life, health clinic, school in Helmand destroyed, Yahoo! News) 

(​​US, Afghan airstrikes pummel Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan, Military Times)

Material Legacies of U.S. Imperialism in Afghanistan

• As the U.S. publicly proclaims its pivot away from Afghanistan, what legacy does it leave behind for the millions of Afghan people subject to its occupation since 2001?: (Reckoning and Reparations: US Government Owes Afghan Civilians for Past 20 Years of War and Brutal Impoverishment, CovertAction Magazine) 

  • During 2013, when the United States spent an average of $2 million per soldier stationed in Afghanistan, the number of Afghan children suffering malnutrition rose by 50 percent. At that same time, the cost of adding iodized salt to an Afghan child’s diet to help reduce the risk of brain damage caused by hunger would have been 5 cents per child per year. (Salt and Terror in Afghanistan, CounterPunch)

  • While the United States constructed sprawling military bases in Kabul, populations in refugee camps soared. Trucks laden with food, fuel, water, and supplies replenished the U.S. occupation without interruption.

  • U.S. contractors signed deals to build hospitals and schools, which were later determined to be ghost hospitals and ghost schools, places that never even existed. (January 30, 2021 Quarterly Report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) 

  • Between January 2012 and February 2013, airstrikes “killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one 5-month period of the operation… nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets.” (Leaked military documents expose the inner workings of Obama's drone wars, The Intercept)

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has criticized the U.S. for its insistence on deploying military power in place of political solutions, and claims that a protracted civil war in Afghanistan would lead to a refugee crisis in neighboring Pakistan, as well as further instability across the entire region.

(U.S. ‘really messed it up’ in Afghanistan, says Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, PBS Newshour)  

• Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has expressed U.S. actions shattered all hope for political reconciliation during the times that his own government was in power.

(America’s ruthless ‘war on terror’ is what made it lose Afghanistan years ago, former Afghan president Karzai tells RT, RT)

• The Washington Post details the diverging strategies aimed at maintaining U.S. power in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq provides the “successful” model, while Afghanistan continues to spiral further toward an uncertain future.

(Biden’s careful approach to Iraq is built on all that’s absent in Afghanistan, The Washington Post)

Please visit BAP's Afghanistan resources page for its latest statements and fact sheets. Keep in touch on social media by following BAP on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Banner photo: Taliban fighters took control of Afghanistan’s presidential palace in Kabul on August 15, 2021, after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. (Zabi Karimi / AP)

Afghanistan News Update #2

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Solidarity Network is proud to release the second issue of its monthly Afghanistan News Update. This newsletter aims to bring a collection of news reports and analyses to help the public better understand the complex and dynamic situation in Afghanistan through an anti-imperialist lens. Below are milestones that occurred between June and July. 

U.S. imperial intervention continues to mar the Afghan people’s right to self-determination, despite the U.S. and NATO withdrawal being “95% complete.” U.S. imperial involvement in Afghanistan goes further back than its criminal 2001 invasion. “Operation Cyclone'' was a 10-year long C.I.A. program begun in 1979 to overthrow the socialist government of Afghanistan by arming and influencing the mujahideen, a far-right extremist group that would later splinter off into Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other Islamist factions. Since then, the Afghan people have been in the midst of a U.S.-created civil war that has wreaked havoc across the country, killed or injured hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians, and displaced countless more. 

“No lessons have been learned from this history,” explain Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, “The U.S. will ‘withdraw,’ but will also leave behind its assets to checkmate China and Russia. These geopolitical considerations eclipse any concern for the Afghan people.” 

The U.S. government claims it will continue to involve itself in the affairs of the Afghan people for humanitarian and national security purposes, but recent events that have unfolded over the past two months contradict this rhetoric. 

The United States Denies Responsibility for the Current State of Afghanistan 

The security situation in Afghanistan continues to worsen everyday. The Taliban has waged a full-scale offensive takeover, now controlling nearly 80 percent of the country, with many expecting Kabul and the U.S.-backed government to be overthrown by the end of this year. Ever since the Biden administration violated the 2020 Doha Peace Agreement and extended its imperial occupation of Afghanistan, leaving troops and private mercenaries in the country while remaining committed to the use of devastating airstrikes, turmoil has ensued. 

• The Biden administration has made it clear the United States will not stop devastating airstrikes in Afghanistan, including the use of unmanned drones. 

  (Biden Betrays Another Campaign Pledge—Admits that U.S. Will Continue to Bomb Afghanistan, CovertAction Magazine, July 6, 2021)

• In July alone, nearly 350 Afghan people have been killed while Biden recently bragged not a single U.S. life had been lost.

  (Afghan War Casualty Report: July 2021, New York Times, July 15, 2021)

• The U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield, a major U.S. military stronghold, notorious for human rights violations of the Afghan people. The evacuation took place in the middle of the night, blindsiding its “allies” and leaving equipment, weapons, ammunition and trash behind. 

  (U.S. Pulls Out of Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield in the Middle of the Night—Without Telling the New Commander, Time Magazine, July 6, 2021) 

• The Taliban says it has the “right to react” if U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan past the September 11 deadline, representing the potential for another clear U.S. violation of the Doha Peace Agreement, which would only cause further devastation and insecurity for the Afghan people. 

  (Taliban says has right to react if US troops stay in Afghanistan, Aljazeera, June 25, 2021) 

The Geopolitical Impact of the U.S. “Withdrawal”

Afghanistan has never been a national security threat to the United States, despite the rhetoric. However, in the wake of the Biden administration’s violation of the 2020 Doha Peace Agreement, its irresponsible “withdrawal,” and continued imperial and militaristic meddling in the affairs of the Afghan people, the current instability and high likelihood of civil war in Afghanistan has become a major source of fear and insecurity not just for the Afghan people, but also for neighboring and nearby countries. 

• For geopolitical reasons, the United States and NATO are committed to remaining the dominant foreign presence in Afghanistan, despite opposition from many regional states. 

  (A hybrid war to replace Afghan ‘forever war’?, Indian Punchline, July 6, 2021)

• In an attempt to mitigate the likelihood of a violent and devastating civil war in the wake of the U.S. “withdrawal”, regional powers including Russia, China, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan advanced an “Asian roadmap” for Afghanistan based on reconciliation, economic development, and Eurasian integration. 

  (Russia-China advance Asian roadmap for Afghanistan, Asia Times, July 15, 2021)

• Geopolitics, Profit And Poppies: how the war in Afghanistan has looked a lot like the war on drugs in Latin America and previous colonial campaigns in Asia, with a rapid militarization of the area and the empowerment of local elites.

  (How the CIA Turned Afghanistan into a Failed Narco-State, MintPress News via Popular Resistance, June 27, 2021)

• Taliban advances in Afghanistan are threatening economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, including the Belt and Road Initiative. 

  (Chaos in Afghanistan Threatens CPEC, The Diplomat, July 19, 2021)

Please visit BAP's Afghanistan resources page for its latest statements and fact sheets. Keep in touch on social media by following BAP on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Banner photo: A handover ceremony as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan. (Afghan Ministry of Defense Press Office via AP)

Afghanistan News Update #1

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Solidarity Network is proud to announce the premiere of the Afghanistan News Update. This monthly newsletter aims to bring a collection of news reports and analyses to help the public better understand the complex and dynamic situation in Afghanistan through an anti-imperialist lens. Below are milestones over the past few months in the aftermath of the Biden administration's decision to withdraw military troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.

The number of U.S. Special Forces and mercenaries in Afghanistan is expected to increase as a result of the U.S. military withdrawal.

Contractors say from their perspective, nothing has changed since Biden announced the United States would be withdrawing by September 11. In fact, the number of contractors has "beefed up." Contractors offer the "same level and same range of skills—all at a much lower political cost and with a dose of secrecy." (The U.S. Is Leaving Afghanistan? Tell That to the Contractors, New York Magazine, May 12, 2021)

Biden will withdraw 2,500 soldiers while leaving behind 18,000 U.S. Special Forces, mercenaries and intelligence operatives, "privatizing and downscaling the war, but not ending it.” (Biden's Not Ending the War—He's Privatizing It, CovertAction Magazine, April 18, 2021)


Despite the United States' apparent ambivalence and uncertainty swirling around the viability of the Afghan government, one thing is sure: Billions of dollars in U.S. funds will continue to flow to Kabul. This comes while the CIA courts outside partners.

Despite staunch opposition from the Taliban and the Pakistani people, U.S. and Pakistani officials have been negotiating terms for a renewed cooperation agreement to allow the CIA to conduct intelligence-gathering and counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan following the U.S. military withdrawal. Presumably, the CIA found it in its strategic interest to leak this sensitive information to the New York Times. (C.I.A. Scrambles for New Approach in Afghanistan, The New York Times, June 6, 2021)

An inter-agency delegation from the United States—including representatives from the Defense Department, National Security Council and USAID—have apparently pledged $6.6 billion over the next two years to support Afghan security forces against the Taliban, including adding “more U.S. facilities” and “aircraft … to strengthen the Afghan Air Force.” The amount is in addition to the more than $266 million in humanitarian aid that is expected to be provided to Afghanistan. (Official: U.S. Pledges $3.3 Billion in Funding for Afghan Forces, Voice of America News, June 6, 2021)

NATO officials have expressed “[s]ignificant questions … over exactly how NATO will continue to fund the Afghan security forces, whether to continue training Special Forces troops somewhere outside the country, and exactly who might provide security for civilian workers, embassies and Kabul’s airport.” (NATO Ministers Question How to Wind Down Afghanistan Operations, Al Jazeera, June 1, 2021)

The ability of Afghan forces to provide necessary security to the United States and NATO continues to be called into question. Dozens of besieged outposts or bases, and four district centers, have given up to Taliban insurgents this month, in an accelerating rural collapse as American troops leave. (A Wave of Afghan Surrenders to the Taliban Picks Up Speed, The New York Times, May 27, 2021)

The Taliban has warned that it will “not remain silent” in response to “speculations that Pakistan may allow the United States to use its soil for counterterrorism operations after American troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan.” Pakistan has a history of officially denying the United States the use of “military bases or allowing drone attacks in Pakistan,” while “secretly” allowing the United States to conduct such activities. (Taliban Warns Pakistan About Hosting U.S. Military Bases, The Diplomat, May 27, 2021)

Although U.S. troops are set to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of Biden’s September 11 deadline, "big issues remain unresolved.” (Pentagon Accelerates Withdrawal From Afghanistan, The New York Times, May 25, 2021)

U.S. lawmakers said that Afghans heavily depend on U.S. and international enablers, including "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets and maintenance and repair for their equipment." The lawmakers said they will support U.S. funding for Afghanistan’s civil society and for its social and economic development, but only if U.S. security forces are on the ground. (U.S. Lawmakers Seek Continued Efforts in Afghanistan, TOLOnews, May 19, 2021)

The CIA is preparing for the "likely collapse" of the Afghan government and a return to civil war. CIA Director William J. Burns has acknowledged that the agency is “looking for new ways to collect information in Afghanistan once [U.S.] forces are withdrawn,” including through alliances with regional leaders outside the Afghan government. (Spy Agencies Seek New Afghan Allies as U.S. Withdraws, The New York Times, May 14, 2021)

Mounting evidence suggests the CIA and the Pentagon have lost faith in Afghan security forces, but are prepared to offer nominal support insofar as it will further Washington’s larger geopolitical interests: “Containment of Russia and China.” (Afghanistan: US exit is with caveats, Indian Punchline, April 22, 2021)


China asserts its geopolitical interests to counter U.S. destabilization efforts in the region.

China and five Central Asian states express their opposition to U.S. military deployment on their soil, since increased U.S. political and intelligence activities and involvement with local opposition parties, NGOs and media groups "would only lead to [color] revolution” and attempt to sow seeds of discord. (China Blocks U.S. Bases in Central Asia, Indian Punchline, May 14, 2021)

The foreign ministers of China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have reportedly “reached a consensus on promoting the peace process in Afghanistan and anti-terrorism and security cooperation.” The trilateral talks also stressed the need to combat the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, a Muslim separatist group based in the Xinjiang province, a region that shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Update: China helps Afghan peace with trilateral mechanism, Global Times, June 3, 2021)

ETIM has played a key role in orchestrating unrest in Xinjiang, including with deadly terrorist attacks against civilians, and was designated in 2002 as a terrorist organization by both the UN Security Council and the Bush administration. Given intensifying U.S. hostility toward China—and the faux outrage over manufactured claims of Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang in particular—China is reasonably suspicious of U.S. plans to destabilize the region by supporting ETIM members based in Afghanistan. Those concerns were heightened when the Trump administration abruptly removed ETIM from its terrorist list in November 2020, a decision that the Biden administration has not reversed. (Whitewashing terror groups on Xinjiang ‘will backfire on U.S.’, Global Times, May 17, 2021)


CNN’s alarmist reaction to the UN Security Council Report on Afghanistan follows a familiar script.

On June 2, 2021, the UN Security Council (UNSC) released its annual report from the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. CNN reports the “UN sounds alarm over threat posed by emboldened Taliban, still closely tied to al Qaeda.”

The findings in the UNSC report, however, do not support the sensationalist headline or tone of CNN’s article.

As an initial matter, the UNSC report does not offer anything new, as the conclusion that “the Taliban and [al Qaeda] remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking ties” was taken from the UNSC’s prior report in 2020. The report also notes the member states’ view of “no material change” to the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship (paragraph 40) and that “formal communication between senior al Qaeda and Taliban officials is currently infrequent” (paragraph 45).

Moreover, the UNSC report omits important context. Under the Doha Agreement signed in February 2020—which the Biden administration has since unilaterally repudiated—the Taliban committed to prevent al Qaeda “from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies,” by for example, preventing al Qaeda from “recruiting, training and fundraising” in Afghanistan or providing travel documents to allow known terrorists to enter the country (Doha Agreement, Part II). Nothing in the UNSC report suggests the Taliban violated those commitments. The report instead purports only to show al Qaeda continues to have a “presence in Afghanistan.” (paragraphs 40-49.) The Taliban, for its part, has refuted the UNSC report, which it claims is based on “false information.”

In related news, a senior advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Defense recently described in an interesting podcast episode how the Afghan government exaggerates reports of ISIS and al Qaeda fighters as a tactic to maintain U.S. support for Afghan forces against the Taliban.


Exposing the flimsy pretexts for the U.S. invasion and continued occupation of Afghanistan.

The United States invaded Afghanistan as part of a neoconservative strategy to prevent the decline of U.S. hegemony through military force and, more specifically, to establish a puppet regime to safeguard imperialist interests in Afghanistan. Nowadays, only the most dedicated supporters of U.S. imperialism will repeat official claims that the United States invaded Afghanistan as retribution for 9/11, to prevent future terrorist attacks against the United States or for humanitarian reasons. Those claims have been thoroughly debunked.

Matthew Hoh, a former U.S. Marine combat veteran and State Department employee in Afghanistan, disputes as “preposterous” that terrorist groups need a safe haven in Afghanistan. He said that line continues to be circulated, "even as the reality of the 9/11 attacks demonstrates that Afghanistan only played a minor role in the planning, preparation and training of the hijackers.” (What Critics of the U.S.Withdrawal from Afghanistan Get Wrong, CNN, May 15, 2021)

The online publication, Afghan Eye, dissects the claim that the United States has liberated women in Afghanistan. Turns out Afghanistan is a more dangerous place for women. (Did the U.S. Liberate Afghan Women?, The Afghan Eye, May 12, 2021)


Please visit BAP's Afghanistan resources page for its latest statements and fact sheets. Keep in touch on social media by following BAP on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Banner photo: Afghan security forces at a lone outpost in Kandahar, on the edge of the Panjwai District in Afghanistan, Jan. 30, 2021 (Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times)