Terrorism, which grew and grew under the shadow of the US in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, has not been as prolific during their absence.
Author: Abdul Naser Noorzad, security and geopolitics researcher, especially for Sangar
Twenty years of American presence in Afghanistan, according to the geopolitical theory of the new world order, has turned Afghanistan into a hot spot of politics and war in the region. A brief presence, and with little introduction based on the September 11, 2001, incident and the immediate withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in 2021, disrupted the geopolitical security order of which the United States was considered the custodian.
The Asian powers around Afghanistan from the south, north, west, and east, each with their own vision of security and separate political and geopolitical agendas, opposed the order that had fallen from the western sky on the field of Afghanistan. For 20 years, the United States nurtured the seeds of extremism and lawlessness in Afghanistan's geography, and after its withdrawal handed over this vulnerable, impoverished, and politically disordered country to a terrorist group to act as their own proxy army in the midst of rivalry between surrounding powers.
The political, economic, and cultural doctrine that has been at the apex of the US security strategy for a decade has been to suppress and eradicate terrorism, which they themselves laid the foundation for. For the next decade, their policy was a tactical retreat from Afghanistan to allow terrorism to replace the US in the region and overshadow the existing security and political order.
Now there is no US in Afghanistan, and the Taliban have become the absolute ruler of Afghanistan. The consequence of this absolute sovereignty of the Taliban, resulting from the tactical withdrawal of the United States, is the transformation of Afghanistan into a hotbed of instability for the region and the encouragement of the latest terrorism. At present, this country has become a hotbed of terrorism, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, a hotbed of extremist and religious terrorist groups, a hotbed of instability and lawlessness, a central point of separatism, and the creation of interethnic tension in the region.
THE FIRST is a hotbed of rivalry between great powers and regions, proxy groups: with America's presence since 2001, countries in the region and Afghanistan's neighbors have been cooperating and laying the groundwork for that presence. At the same time, along with the strategic intentions and goals of the United States, in order to also be present in this geography, they began to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan. Iran, Pakistan, China, Russia, Central Asian countries, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the European Union have created their proxy groups in Afghanistan. These proxy groups, which were partners in the Afghan political and security structure, wielded power and amassed great wealth, and those groups that actually fought against the pro-American government became influential and powerful actors.
On the other hand, the regional and neighboring great powers continued their bloody and fierce rivalry, using leverage and having these proxy groups. In twenty years, thousands of Afghans have been killed, maimed, or made homeless. Infrastructures that were destroyed during the wars of the past years could not be rebuilt. The country's economy was dependent on foreign aid. Drug trafficking has become more prosperous, with the result that more people and groups have become stronger than the legal and political system of Afghanistan.
In this bitter bloody rivalry between world and regional powers in Afghanistan, the United States has also recruited, strengthened, and equipped extremist groups throughout the region. In other words, while the powers of the region competed with each other, the United States did not lag behind the caravan and for many years sowed the seeds of extremism in Afghanistan in order to, after leaving the country, drag it into an acute crisis of security and extremism, and terrorism remained one of the sides of this rivalry. Terrorism, which grew and grew under the shadow of the US in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, has not been as prolific during their absence.
Thus, all the facts show that America's presence has been a great blessing for extremism and terrorism;
THE SECOND is drug trafficking: Afghanistan has been the largest source of production, trafficking in drugs, and the main source of their cultivation for several years in a row. Terrorism, as the main lever for the development of the drug trade, contributed to its transfer from Afghanistan to Iran, Turkey, and Europe, as well as through Central Asia to the Russian Federation and Europe. The amount of income from this profitable business for extremist and armed groups in Afghanistan, America, and the countries of the region shows an unthinkable figure. This money was used by local players to support the war, by America to cover the costs of its presence in Afghanistan, and by neighboring countries to advance their security policies and proxy wars. In any case, the US was the cause of this terror in Afghanistan and encouraged others.
THE THIRD is arms smuggling: after the collapse of the former Afghan government and the return of the Taliban to power on August 15, 2021, the Taliban received large stockpiles of weapons left behind by the Afghan government and US troops. The amount of weapons remaining in the Taliban regime is more than seven billion dollars, which has greatly increased the combat capability and intensification of terror and lawlessness of this group, which is in collusion with other global terrorist groups. American weapons left in Afghanistan are bought and sold in the markets of insecure areas, and the arms trade, as well as terrorism, flourishes in this region. In addition to completing the American plan based on a regional strategy of instability and destabilization, this business has also become a good source of financial income.
US weapons sold in illegal arms markets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and several other countries include night vision goggles, sniper rifles, automatic assault weapons, and ammunition related to these weapons. From here, the Taliban receive huge money and platforms are being laid for the generalization of the Taliban ideology at the regional level. The entire region will be ignited by the fire of terrorist violence;
THE FOURTH is a hotspot for extremism and terrorist propaganda: now it seems that since the Taliban came to power, this group has become an inspiration for all terrorist networks, like-minded extremists, to whom the Taliban send small arms to inspire them to win. This is especially true of their neighbors, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan and the separatists in troubled Balochistan, who use American-made weapons to kill police and soldiers. And this will intensify their fight against the Pakistani government.
The presence of at least twenty terrorist groups in Afghanistan testifies to the depth of the crisis in the region. The Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism. In fact, the presence of the Taliban in power serves this purpose. Ideologically, the Taliban feed on these terrorist groups, and in terms of warfare, over the past twenty years, they have received tremendous opportunities from these groups, such as war tactics, and operational advice. Meanwhile, over the past twenty years, these groups have fought alongside the Taliban against foreign and Afghan forces and have become an important force with vast combat and operational experience;
THE FIFTH is a major propaganda hotbed for ethnic nationalism and separatist groups: A few months after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, American weapons were seen in various parts of Pakistan and India in the hands of militants fighting against the governments of those two countries. Released photographs of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan Liberation Army, and active fighters in Kashmir also show that they also received American weapons left behind in Afghanistan. In addition, the rise of the Taliban to power was an inspiration to other separatist groups that today seek to create separate territories under the protection of the Taliban by military and violent means. The Uyghurs, Balochs, and other separatist groups see the Taliban's victory as a promising outcome to continue their struggle and war.
