China’s next headache, a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Perhaps, just perhaps, there’s more than meets the eye with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Many of our readers are old enough to remember the United States’ support of the Afghan Mujahideen following the USSR invasion of Afghanistan. Indeed, the Mujahideen – including both local Afghan fighters and Arab militants who travelled to Afghanistan for jihad – helped form the ideological and governmental basis for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban and a safe haven for numerous terror groups such as al-Qaeda.

The US Operation Cyclone’s judgement was to support the little guy to fight the big guy, and waste the big guy’s resources. In the context of the Cold War where proxy wars were a flavour of the month, the logic made sense.

However, hindsight always tells a different story. We all know what happened next.