TALIBAN forces have turned the tables on US backed state building in Afghanistan.
The loosing aligned movement of mainly Pashtun militias have captured a string of regional capitals in the past week.
On Friday, Afghanistan’s second largest city Kandahar fell to the Taliban, and Taliban forces are now within 30 miles of the Afghan capital Kabul.
Following the withdrawal of US troop the institutions and military forces build up over the past 20 years have fallen like a stack of cards.
Meanwhile the Taliban have been slowly building a shadow government of waiting in almost every province and district.
A conscious desire to avoid the fate of the previous Taliban regime, the faction has moved to adopt a more palatable international image.
Brutal corporal punishments have been downplayed and women allowed some flexibility in dress and movement compared with the previous period of Taliban rule.
However this is not uniform across the different areas under the Taliban with regional commanders dictating the severity of social controls.
Besides being a tad more PR conscious, the Taliban have changed little since they were last ousted.
The fact that Taliban are back at the gates of Kabul suggest they enjoy at least the placid support of large parts of the country.
This humiliation for the US and its NATO allies is a damning indictment of occupation that the west will be counting the cost of for years to come.
China is one power which looks place to benefit from the chaos in Afghanistan.
This week Redaction Report examined the aggressive actions of Beijing in the South China Sea.
Could China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea lead to military escalation?
President Biden also faces geo-political problems closer to home, with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador refusing to Back Washington over Cuba.
The new special relationship? Why Mexico’s Obrador is propping up Cuba
Turning to issues of the environment, we examined the systemic change needed to avoid climate catastrophe.
Climate Crisis: Systemic change needed to avoid catastrophe
Looking Ahead
Redaction Report have been expanding our output of video content over the past months – including our interview show, our debate show and our forthcoming culture club.
We are now committing to a regular weekly news roundup show.
Preview: Redaction Report’s weekly news roundup show
If you have any guests you want us to invite on or any topics you think we should discuss, get in touch at redaction_news@protonmail.com
This newsletter was written on Friday, August 13, 2021 – before the Taliban reached Kabul.
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