Kabul, Kandahar, Karzai: The Resurgence of the Taliban and its Implications

Written By Jack McGlinn

On August 15th, 2021, 18 months after President Donald Trump began withdrawing American soldiers, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan and a city of 4.6 million, fell to the Taliban. 

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President Biden has slated the withdrawal to be complete by August 31st. The last Boeing C-17 Globemasters leaving Kabul signifies the end of a 20-year “forever war,” launched by President George W. Bush and ended by Joe Biden—2.31 trillion dollars and thousands of American lives later. 

But how did it all come to this? How did a ragtag group of Islamic extremists in a poor, mountainous Central Asian country defeat the most powerful nation in history—and 50 of its allies?

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Derived from the Arabic for “students,” the Taliban grew out of the Mujahideen, a rebel group which fought the Soviet Union during its 1979-1989 invasion of Afghanistan. In the early days of the war, the Mujahideen lost large numbers of men and materiel to a much larger, mechanized, well-organized Soviet invasion force. In an effort to prevent further Soviet victories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter initiated Operation Cyclone, one of the CIA’s largest-ever funding operations. Between 1979 and 1989, the United States funneled billions of dollars worth of weaponry into the hands of the Mujahideen—the largest third-world military aid project in history. The Mujahideen were aided by the Haqqani Network, a group of rebels whose ideals of Afghan nationalism and implementation of the sharia fundamentalist law system were closely aligned with those of the Taliban. Many members of the pan-Arab community sided closely with the Mujahideen against the Soviets. Rallying around their shared identity, many “Afghan-Arabs” coordinated in their home nations to provide support in Afghanistan. They named their network after the Arabic for “the base”: al-Qaeda.

The Mujahideen saw instant success with the now-legendary Stinger missiles they received from Washington: they had never won a set-piece battle before receiving the game-changing weapon, but they never lost one afterward. Within ten years, the Mujahideen sent the Soviets packing. 

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Afghan Mujahideen using Stinger Missiles on a Soviet helicopter.

The majority of the money from the Pentagon was imprudently funneled into a single man, Gulbuddin Hekyatmar, who received 600 million USD in funding, according to even the most conservative estimates. By 1992, Hekyatmar, backed by Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, refused to create a coalition government with other Afghan Mujahideen factions, leading to a four-year civil war. Hekyatmar was termed the “Butcher of Kabul” after overseeing devastating rocket attacks on the city that killed thousands of civilians.

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Kabul following Hekyatmar’s 1992 power grab.

But he did not stop there. Hekyatmar was also known to be a close associate of Osama Bin Laden during the 1990s—soldiers loyal to Hekyatmar helped Bin Laden make a last-minute escape from the cave complex of Tora Bora during a 2001 American bombardment. Hekyatmar criticized Pakistan for helping the United States following the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, and, in 2002, Hekyatmar was behind an assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who assumed power following the Western invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Lastly, to add the cherry on top of the proverbial cake of terrorism, it is worth mentioning that Hekyatmar was also a heroin smuggling kingpin. Originally propped up by the United States to fight for its interests, Hekyatmar ultimately abetted its greatest enemy of the modern age. Like Victor Frankenstein and his creation, Carter’s efforts to heighten American overseas influence created a monster that haunts the United States to this day.

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Taliban soldiers watching the American bombardment of Tora Bora.

Riding on a wave of post-911 patriotism, the United States invaded Afghanistan on October 7th, 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The U.S. and Nato-led forces toppled the Taliban government in months. The Western powers’ victory was followed by an uneasy foreign presence in the country. In the shadow of deadly jihad, Afghan families tried to return to normalcy and build a future. On January 1st, 2015, the United States and its Western allies initiated Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which signaled a switch from offensive operations to peacekeeping and defense. Despite an undeniable Taliban presence, the United States was able to provide Afghanistan with the security needed to develop: female fertility rates were cut from seven to four births per woman, female life expectancy at birth increased, the percentage of women that lived past 65 skyrocketed, and Afghanistan’s human rights record quickly improved.

But the American goal in Afghanistan was never nation-building. After 19 years of American involvement in the country, President Donald Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar on February 29th, 2020. American diplomats agreed to leave Afghanistan within 14 months. In return, the Taliban promised to stop providing a safe haven for terrorists and end their attacks on American soldiers. Critics of the deal argued that it made the Taliban promise too much: in addition to asking that they stop harming U.S. servicemen, the Taliban were required to take responsibility for any individual who might want to attack the United States from Afghanistan.

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U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban Deputy Leader Abdul Ghani Baradar negotiating the Doha Agreement in 2020.

The deal’s success was entirely dependent upon the goodwill and integrity of a terrorist organization, something Trump failed to take into account. There were little to no prerequisites, checks and balances, or threats of military action in the deal to goad the Taliban into fulfilling the agreement. The Taliban were cut an irresistible deal, their side of which they failed to honor.

Since the signing of the agreement 18 months ago, the United States has been slowly reducing its presence in Afghanistan. As a result, the Taliban has quickly retaken control of the country. On May 4th, 2021, the Taliban launched offensives in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province, along with 6 other provinces. On July 2nd, as violence across the country worsened, American forces withdrew from Bagram Air Base—their main base of operations in the country—just an hour’s drive from Kabul. Weeks later, a host of key cities and provincial capitals, including Zaranj, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Jalalabad, fell to the Taliban. On August 13th, they reclaimed Kandahar, their spiritual capital and Afghanistan’s second-largest city. 

As the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15th, the scene in the city resembled the American evacuation of Saigon in 1975. Terrified of the Taliban, defenseless Afghans clamored onto the sides of Boeing C-17 Globemasters departing Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

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Fall of Kabul (left) compared with the Fall of Saigon (right).

Despite the undeniable appearance of a frantic, botched evacuation, President Joe Biden asserted that 98 percent of all Americans who wanted to leave the country could. He stood firmly behind his decision to withdraw, citing military concerns, national security interests, and revealing new foreign policy goals focused on scaling down interventionism and focusing more on a growing Indo-Pacific. The goal in Afghanistan, Biden claimed, was never nation building: “We saw a mission of counterterrorism in Afghanistan—getting the terrorists and stopping attacks—morph into a counterinsurgency, nation building—trying to create a democratic, cohesive, and unified Afghanistan—something that has never been done over the many centuries of Afghanistan’s history. Moving on from that mindset and those kinds of large-scale troop deployments will make us stronger and more effective and safer at home.”

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Stranded Afghans flood the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Although U.S. presence in Central Asia and the Middle East will continue, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan will give rise to an increased Russian presence. Neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are keen to bolster their militaries to fend off the Taliban, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to find allies of his authoritarian regime. By investing advising, arms, and money into Central Asian militaries, Russia is sure to make strides in their quest to control the region. 

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Russian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Founded as part of the Mujahideen, the Taliban grew to become one of the most feared terrorist cells in the world. Through determination, asymmetrical warfare, and unwavering Islamic devotion, they brought down the most powerful nation in history, changing its priorities and shifting the world order in the process. 

Jack McGlinn
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