After the Fall

I would have thought that following the catastrophe of Benghazi, that the United States government would take military feedback more seriously – but I was wrong.

Over the past year, we have had consistent military feedback that the direction taken in Afghanistan was going to lead to the Taliban taking control of military assets (Chinook aircraft, Missiles and on the ground weaponry) and the country.

This was overlooked in the quadrilateral talks between the U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China.

Military advice on the need to address 20,000 Afghani support personnel and translators, was largely left to the last minute – and Canada offering to take them in, while the US wrings its hands.

The pullout from Kabul is reminiscent of the sad departure we had from Saigon in 1975 – where we now see the offer from last week for a coalition Afghani – Taliban government give way to Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar stepping into the role of President following Ashraf Ghani’s resignation.

At the same time, our own State Department Sec. Blinken can’t even come up with a decent rationale, as to why we pulled out our military leaving our civilians and diplomatic corps to evacuate Kabul.

Regionally, the failure of current U.S. policy in Afghanistan leading to the complete surrender to the Taliban creates a number of power vaccums that will have untold consequences in the coming months.

With the ceding of Afghanistan to the Taliban, Mullah Baradar stands to be dictating the future of trillions of dollars of rare earth materials, under the Afghani landscape.

At the same time, ISIS and a number of regional insurgent groups, such as LeT, stand to rise in regional prominence and drive conflict into Pakistan’s former NWFP region.

American Advanced military tech will most likely end up in Iranian shared hands, with the risk of it being used against Iraqi, Kurdish or Syrian targets.

Further, while Saudi Arabia’s, 55 majority Muslim country, coalition against terror will have to pick up the regional weight of counterterrorism activities – many questions continue with Biden legitimizing the Taliban’s cult manipulation of Islam and Theology to support their hegemonical aims across the Middle East and Central Asia, by handing them Afghanistan.

Lastly, with over six trillion of taxpayers' dollars spent on U.S. foreign policy within the region, over the past 30 years, the bigger question of war and increased control by China and Russia loom.

The White House and the State Department had more than a year to plan a handover that could "Build Back Better." What we’ve received today is a result that puts us back to 1985 with the Taliban.

That’s a danger that puts the entire world at risk.

Oz Sultan is a Technology and Blockchain Management Consultant with 20 years experience developing Data Products and Technology solutions for the likes of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Moody’s, JP Morgan and Xbox. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.