This is how the United States blocks money from the Taliban 1:05
Editor's note:
David Bittan Obadía is a lawyer, writer, political and international analyst, columnist for the newspaper El Universal de Venezuela, and contributor to other media.
As a lecturer, he participated in the World Jewish Congress and was president of the Jewish community of Venezuela.
His Twitter account is @davidbittano.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author alone.
You can read more articles like this at cnne.com/opinion.
(CNN Spanish) -
Afghanistan is a failed state, which has been submerged for decades in a conflict in which the Islamist group of the Taliban has fought to gain control of the country.
And they already succeeded.
The Taliban emerged in the 1990s, after the Soviets left the country, and are said to be born out of religious schools promoted by Saudi Arabia.
The Taliban have succeeded in establishing a radical Islamic regime and "the group's goal is to impose its interpretation of Islamic law in Afghanistan and eliminate foreign influence in the country."
When they came to control Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban began to impose physical punishment, women had no rights and were forced to cover themselves fully with the burqa.
Likewise, girls and adolescents were left out of the educational system and, finally, all cultural expression was prohibited.
Now they say they will be different.
Will have to see.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 resulted in a justified attack, from my point of view, on Afghanistan, where the terrorists were hiding.
Remember that Osama bin Laden had a partnership with the Taliban.
In fact, the center of its operations is estimated to be the Afghan city of Kandahar.
What will happen to the mineral resources of Afghanistan?
0:53
Soviets, Americans, Europeans and the coalition of all of them has passed through that country, leaving it today abandoned in the hands of the Taliban, who are already walking around with American weapons in their hands.
The Taliban have a lot of money; Its financing comes from abroad, from the collection of blackmail from foreign companies; Let's remember that a lot of money came in for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, that is, there could be some companies of US origin that through this extortion could be financing their executioners. Similarly, drug money is very important: Afghanistan produces 84% of the world's opium, according to figures from the UN drug report, in 2020. That industry has a workforce of almost 600,000 households, according to estimates. from 2019; the great contradiction is that growing opium in Afghanistan carries the death penalty.
This is a costly conflict for the United States.
In 2020 talks were promoted and agreements were signed with the Taliban on four points.
It was just a first step.
In July 2021, US forces began to formally withdraw from Afghanistan, with the departure of the most important base and operations center, something that was done in conjunction with NATO contingents.
Today, in August 2021, and as a result of a miscalculation of US intelligence, the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan.
In the past few hours, Washington has had to send a contingent of more than 6,000 soldiers to be able to remove its personnel, which implies a practically greater presence than at the beginning of the withdrawal of its troops.
The same is being done by various countries in Europe.
20 years: 9/11 attacks, invasion and departure from Afghanistan 3:44
This issue no longer has anything to do with Republicans and Democrats: it is about defending the interests of a country and it is at this time that Americans have to be in consensus to find a solution to a real headache.
Afghanistan is a clear example of how none of the world's powers managed to eradicate terrorism there, and that the strategies when talking about the Middle East have to be different, assuming the perspective from the level of the logic of those in that area. and accepting that it is a conflict that has religious and cultural components, that it is not a matter of territories, that, for them, we are unfaithful.
It is extremely worrying to see how quickly the Taliban have seized the power of a country and the logistical and mobilization military capacity that they have.
Now the question is to know what will happen to the neighbors, what will happen to the emigration that will flood the countries of Europe and, above all, who will control a territory so important that it becomes fertile land to cultivate export-quality terrorism .
They worked for the United States in Afghanistan.
Now they are hiding
Russia and China are important players to put some order in Afghanistan, each with their own interests.
The two are already in contact with the Taliban.
On the other hand, it is necessary to reflect on how the United States is losing hegemony in the region, which appears to be far away, but that history has shown that it is not.
I particularly think that the United Nations should guide part of its efforts and ensure the issue of girls and adolescent girls whose destiny is none other than to be enslaved and subjected to the Taliban.
Now there is no choice but to sit down to negotiate with the Taliban and put all the pressure so that the country is governed by both sides.
I do not know if this will be the fate of the entire Middle East, where civilians dominate one part and extremist groups the other.
It remains to be seen what role Russia plays in the situation in Afghanistan and how the US will respond to that.