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America Plans On Doing Massive Cuts On Military Spending, A Sign Of The US Empire’s Decline

armageddon America Plans On Doing Massive Cuts On Military Spending, A Sign Of The US Empire’s Decline

By Theodore Shoebat The US projects major declines in military spending, a sign of the empire’s gradual decline: [embedded content] so...

Qatar May Struggle To Deliver The New-Look Taliban It Hyped

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Qatar May Struggle To Deliver The New-Look Taliban It Hyped" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/93mdal1o_bloomberg-taliban_625x300_07_September_21.jpg" title="Qatar May Struggle To Deliver The New-Look Taliban It Hyped" /></div>
Qatar's reveled in hosting talks with the Taliban and has gained the trust of its leaders. (File)
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As the Taliban closed in on Kabul and tens of thousands of people overwhelmed its airport, it was the small Gulf state of Qatar that first opened its doors to evacuees, fast establishing itself as the West's main line of communication to an organization best known for harboring Osama bin Laden.
The US and UK have since moved their Afghanistan embassies to Doha, its critical role lauded by <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-arrives-in-doha-for-talks-on-afghan-crisis-with-qatar-2531887" target="_self">US Secretary of State Antony Blinken</a> and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin -- both visiting this week. Yet a relationship painstakingly nurtured over the past decade could quickly become a liability for Qatar if it fails to deliver the world the new-look Taliban it's tried to nurture; one that's more hospitable to women and less hospitable to terrorists on the run.
Qatar's ties to the Taliban and other Islamist groups have long been a source of tension with its neighbors and concern for its Western allies. Caught out by the almost immediate collapse of the US-backed government as the last American troops left, Western powers had few other means of contacting the Taliban's political representatives.
Qatar's reveled in hosting talks with the Taliban, complete with big backdrops and dramatic lighting, and has gained the trust of its political leaders. Some 500 to 600 Taliban members with their families have lived in cosmopolitan Doha, according to a Gulf-based diplomat. They include Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the political wing, who has held talks among the skyscrapers, in five-star hotels where Qatar's modesty rules aren't strictly observed.
That gave the Taliban a platform to recast itself as more moderate and ready for government via the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television channel. And it gave Qatar, which has deftly fostered relations with Iran and Islamist groups while serving as a regional headquarters for US military operations, an opportunity to raise its own stature with its most important strategic ally.
At a press conference in Doha Tuesday, Blinken heaped praise on Qatar for its help in Afghanistan. "For years, at our request, you've facilitated diplomacy between the Taliban and the Afghan government to try to bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution," he said.
It's not clear, however, how Qatar will bridge the gap between the image-conscious leaders it's hosted and the Taliban's military wing, which is closer to Pakistan, the longtime political broker next door, and sees less need to accommodate.
There's no meeting of minds as there is with Pakistan, Western diplomats say. The Qataris have even found Baradar, who is at odds with the Pakistanis, difficult to deal with, according to the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. And Pakistan's not the only interested party. Landlocked Afghanistan is surrounded by powerful neighbors such as Iran and China, with a more direct interest in its fate than distant Qatar.
"Qatar is an important conduit between the Taliban and the rest of the world, but does not wield anything like the kind of deep influence on the group that Pakistan does," said Jane Kinninmont, Middle East analyst at the European Leadership Network.
"Qatar's relationship with the Taliban has focused heavily on mediation and international relations. It therefore influences a particular subsection of the Taliban - those that want to engage with the outside world and have pragmatic relationships that will enable them to access aid and trade."
A Liability
Western governments have said any engagement with the Afghan regime will be conditional on it allowing safe passage out of Kabul and the flow of humanitarian aid, not becoming a haven for terrorist organizations, respecting human rights and forming an inclusive government.
There's no evidence, however, that Qatar can influence the Taliban's approach to the education of women and girls, though the Qatari ruling family has identified that as a priority.
And while Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has said his country was working with the Taliban and Turkey to restart operations at Kabul airport, it has yet to persuade the Taliban to accept foreign security staff at the airport, a key sticking point.
The Qatari government did not respond to a request for comment on its relations with the Taliban.
Aware of its own limitations, Qatar has focused less on trying to induce change in the Taliban's attitude and more on using its deep pockets to buy influence in a region of strategic interest to major powers, said another person familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
The world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas and one of the world's richest nations, Qatar has financial leverage as well as lobbying clout in Washington that Pakistan lacks. That's become more critical to the Taliban as Western governments and international organizations shy away from supporting a regime that's yet to prove it's different to the international pariah of the 1990s.
If Afghanistan does, again, become a haven for terrorists, Qatar's ties could quickly become a problem.
Saudi Arabia was castigated for recognizing the Taliban regime of the 1990s, which hosted al-Qaeda before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Today, the Gulf's hereditary rulers largely view any Islamic political movement as a threat to national security and to their own primacy and watch Qatar's high-stakes foreign policy with concern.
"Qatar could easily be embarrassed and may want to distance itself from the Taliban or at least from some of its leaders," Kinninmont said. "Some Taliban members are now using language that appeals internationally but it's unclear if this newfound presentability is much more than a re-branding."
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/qatar-may-struggle-to-deliver-the-new-look-taliban-it-hyped-2532966">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/qatar-may-struggle-to-deliver-the-new-look-taliban-it-hyped-2532966</a>

news world Qatar May Struggle To Deliver The New-Look Taliban It Hyped

Qatar's reveled in hosting talks with the Taliban and has gained the trust of its leaders. (File) As the Taliban closed in on Kabul ...

Taliban Fire In Air To Disperse Anti-Pak Protests, Videos Capture The Panic

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Taliban Fire In Air To Disperse Anti-Pak Protests, Videos Capture The Panic" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/6q88rm3g_taliban-fire-at-antipak-protesterskabul650_625x300_07_September_21.jpg" title="Taliban Fire In Air To Disperse Anti-Pak Protests, Videos Capture The Panic" /></div>
People run away at a street as Taliban open fire on anti-Pakistan protesters in Kabul.
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Taliban gunmen fired in the air on Tuesday to scatter protesters in the Afghan capital Kabul, witnesses said, as video showed scores scurrying to escape volleys of gunfire.
Hundreds of men and women shouting slogans such as "Long live the resistance" and "Death to Pakistan" marched in the streets to protest against the Taliban takeover. Neighbouring Pakistan has deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused of assisting the Islamist group's return to power - charges it denies.
"The Islamic government is shooting at our poor people," one panic-stricken woman on the street says over sounds of gunfire in a video clip shown on Iranian television news. There were no immediate reports of injuries, however.
The Taliban's rapid advance across Afghanistan as U.S. forces pulled out last month triggered a scramble to leave by people fearing reprisals.
U.S.-led foreign forces evacuated about 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans, but tens of thousands were left behind.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was in contact with about 100 Americans who were still in Afghanistan.
About 1,000 people, including Americans, have been stuck in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif for days awaiting clearance for charter flights to leave, an organiser told Reuters, blaming the delay on the U.S. State Department.
Blinken, holding talks in Qatar, a key interlocutor with the Taliban, said the problem was one of documents.
"My understanding is that the Taliban have not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said those without valid documents, at this point, can't leave," he told reporters.
"Because all of these people are grouped together, that's meant that flights have not been allowed to go ... We are not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft, or any hostage-like situation."
AIRPORT RESTART
At the same news conference, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said no deal had yet been reached with the Taliban on how Qatar and its partner Turkey could get Kabul airport running again.
"We hope in the next few days we can get to a level where the airport is up and running for passengers and for humanitarian aid as well," he said.
Turkey says it wants to provide security inside the airport to protect any Turkish staff and safeguard operations, but that the Taliban have insisted no foreign forces can be present.
On Monday, the Islamist militants claimed victory in the Panjshir valley, the last province holding out against it, and promised to name a government soon.
Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the Panjshir governor's compound after days of fighting with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), commanded by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud.
Massoud denied that his force, consisting of remnants of the Afghan army as well as local militia fighters, was beaten.
"We are in Panjshir and our resistance will continue," he tweeted. He said he was safe but did not say where.
The Taliban have repeatedly sought to reassure Afghans and foreign countries that they will not return to the brutality of their last reign two decades ago, marked by violent public punishments and the barring of women and girls from public life.
But more than three weeks after seizing Kabul, they have yet to set out their plans.
Asked whether Washington would recognise the Taliban, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday: "That's a long way off."
STUDENTS SEGREGATED
Teachers and students at universities in Afghanistan's largest cities - Kabul, Kandahar and Herat - told Reuters that female students were being segregated in class with curtains, taught separately or limited to some campus areas.
"Putting up curtains is not acceptable," Anjila, a 21-year-old female student at Kabul University, said by telephone, adding that women had sat apart from males in classrooms before the Taliban took over, but without barriers.
"I really felt terrible when I entered the class ... We are gradually going back to 20 years ago."
The conflict in Afghanistan, coupled with drought and coronavirus, has left 18 million people - almost half the population - in need of humanitarian aid, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.
It said tens of thousands of families had headed for relief camps in urban areas, but found they had neither food nor income.
"Basic services in Afghanistan are collapsing and food and other lifesaving aid is about to run out," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a news conference in Geneva, urging more aid ahead of an international donor conference on Sept. 13.
The World Health Organisation is liaising with Qatar on deliveries of urgently needed medical supplies, WHO regional emergency director Rick Brennan said.
Drought and war have forced about 5.5 million Afghans to flee their homes, including more than 550,000 newly displaced in 2021, the International Organization for Migration says.
Western powers say they are prepared to send humanitarian aid, but that broader economic engagement depends on the shape and actions of the Taliban government.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-fire-in-air-to-disperse-anti-pak-protests-videos-capture-the-panic-2532938">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-fire-in-air-to-disperse-anti-pak-protests-videos-capture-the-panic-2532938</a>

news world Taliban Fire In Air To Disperse Anti-Pak Protests, Videos Capture The Panic

People run away at a street as Taliban open fire on anti-Pakistan protesters in Kabul. Taliban gunmen fired in the air on Tuesday to sca...

Victorious Taliban Gloat Over Ruins Of CIA's Afghan Base

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Victorious Taliban Gloat Over Ruins Of CIA's Afghan Base" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/9fl6hvq_cia-afghan-base650_625x300_07_September_21.jpg" title="Victorious Taliban Gloat Over Ruins Of CIA's Afghan Base" /></div>
The complex was once one of the most secure sites in Afghanistan.
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Deh Sabz District:
After America's longest war, Taliban commander Mullah Hasnain contemplates all that is left of what was part of the last CIA base -- demolished buildings, destroyed vehicles and piles of ammunition.
"We let them go peacefully, and look what they've left behind," Hasnain said, a leader of the Taliban's elite Badri 313 unit.
Hasnain, a thick-bearded man dressed in traditional brown robes with a waistcoat and black turban, surveyed the charred ruins of the sprawling complex on the edge of Afghanistan's capital Kabul.
"Before going, they destroyed everything," he told journalists being shown the site, flanked by Taliban guards cradling American M-16 rifles and equipped with the latest military kit.
The complex was once one of the most secure sites in Afghanistan, sited on a dusty plain near the former US Eagle Base camp and close to Kabul airport.
After a two-week blitz of Afghanistan, the Taliban capped their extraordinary victory by sweeping into Kabul on August 15.
It would take two weeks more before the final US forces flew out, ending their 20-year war in the country.
'Lots of explosions'
As the CIA destroyed their base, from where they trained Afghanistan's intelligence agencies, the Taliban watched from nearby, the commander said.
"We were there for nine or 10 days," 35-year-old Hasnain said, speaking in clear English. "There were lots of explosions."
"We didn't stop them, even the last convoy that went by road to the airport. We didn't attack them, because we followed orders from our top officials."
Hasnain pointed at one crater he said had been "an ammunition warehouse". Only a heap of rubble and twisted metal remain.
The US detonated the munition dump on August 27, with the huge blast echoing across Kabul and sparking terror.
A day earlier, Islamic State-Khorasan, Afghanistan's branch of the jihadist franchise and rivals of the Taliban, had attacked crowds at the airport trying to flee.
They killed more than 100 Afghan civilians and 13 US troops.
Hasnain pointed to another area, where dozens of crates packed with hundreds of rockets were piled. "Please don't move the grenades," he told journalists.
Piles of unused ammunition lay scattered around. "We can still shoot with them," he said.
One building was left intact, a large games room with billiards, table football, darts and soft velvet armchairs. Its sign still dangled outside -- "The Snooker Club".
He looked out over a parking lot, packed with the incinerated wrecks of scores of vehicles.
"We need everything for the country, including weapons -- we don't have enough to ensure security," he said.
"Now we have to buy them from other countries," he added, declining to specify which ones.
Deliberate destruction
The US said it left as little military equipment as possible behind for the Taliban, who carried out years of bloody attacks against foreign forces, Afghan troops and the civilian population.
At the nearby airport, US troops disabled or destroyed scores of aircraft and armoured vehicles, as well as a high-tech defence system used to stop rocket attacks.
Hasnain was angry at the deliberate destruction, seeing the burned wreckage as symbolic of America's two-decade stay.
"The US came to Afghanistan saying that they would rebuild the country," he said. "This is their real face, they didn't leave anything."
The Taliban nevertheless seized a major arsenal of weapons elsewhere, as well as from the formerly US-backed government army, including fleets of armoured vehicles.
Ankle-deep in the ash of the burned base, Hasnain offered a message of conciliation, echoing his Taliban superiors.
"We did not make war to kill Americans," he said. "We did it to free the country and restore sharia law."
But many in Afghanistan remember the harsh 1996-2001 regime when the Taliban were previously in power all too well.
With the hardline Islamists back in charge, they are holding their judgement to see if their pledge of a more moderate rule will become a reality.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/victorious-taliban-gloat-over-ruins-of-cias-afghan-base-2532828">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/victorious-taliban-gloat-over-ruins-of-cias-afghan-base-2532828</a>

news world Victorious Taliban Gloat Over Ruins Of CIA's Afghan Base

The complex was once one of the most secure sites in Afghanistan. Deh Sabz District: After America's longest war, Taliban commander...

US Has Identified A Small Number Of Americans In Afghanistan: Antony Blinken

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US Has Identified A Small Number Of Americans In Afghanistan: Antony Blinken" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/o8qndj7_antony-blinken_625x300_07_September_21.jpg" title="US Has Identified A Small Number Of Americans In Afghanistan: Antony Blinken" /></div>
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there are small number of Americans in Afghanistan.
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Dubai:
US Secretary of State <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-says-taliban-said-will-let-afghans-leave-freely-will-hold-them-to-that-us-2532597#pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories" target="_self">Anthony Blinken</a> said on Tuesday Washington has identified a "relatively" small number of Americans seeking to depart from Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif.
Blinken, who was speaking with his Qatari counterpart in a joint press conference in Doha, said that the challenge with the evacuation charter flights is that some Afghans seeking to leave do not have appropriate documents.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-has-identified-a-small-number-of-americans-in-afghanistan-antony-blinken-2532697">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-has-identified-a-small-number-of-americans-in-afghanistan-antony-blinken-2532697</a>

news world US Has Identified A Small Number Of Americans In Afghanistan: Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there are small number of Americans in Afghanistan. Dubai: US Secretary of State Anthony Bli...

Taliban Fire Shots To Disperse Crowds At Anti-Pak Protests In Kabul

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Taliban Takeover: Protests broke out at Kabul against Pakistan for meddling in Afghanistan's affairs
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New Delhi:
Hundreds of Kabul residents came out on the streets today in protest against what they said was meddling by Pakistan in <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-stay-away-isi-death-to-pakistan-slogans-at-kabul-protest-2532612?pfrom=nav_storyicon_link" target="_self">Afghanistan</a>'s affairs, three weeks after the Taliban's takeover. In videos shared by local journalists on social media, the crowds were heard shouting slogans like "death to Pakistan", "we don't want a Pakistani puppet government" and "Pakistan, leave Afghanistan", among others.
The Taliban fired shots into the air to disperse crowds at the protest, news agency AFP reported.
Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is notorious for supporting terror groups against India, is believed to be working with the Taliban and laying the groundwork for a new government in the country where a US-led alliance fought a war against terror for 20 years.
"ISI stay away," read a placard held up by a woman at the protest outside the Pakistani embassy in the Afghan capital.
"The Islamic government is shooting at our poor people," one panic-stricken woman on the street says over sounds of gunfire in a video clip posted on Twitter by Asvaka news agency. "These people (Taliban) are very unjust, and they are not human at all."
Some journalists covering the protests have been arrested, according to reports. TOLOnews chief Lotfullah Najafizada said his colleague Waheed Ahmady has been arrested by the Taliban in Kabul for filming the protest. "I call on the Taliban to release our colleague," Mr Najafizada tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Video: Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of Pakistan's embassy in Kabul on Monday. They dispersed after Taliban forces fired into the air.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TOLOnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TOLOnews</a><a href="https://t.co/qV2QaNgOme">pic.twitter.com/qV2QaNgOme</a>
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/TOLOnews/status/1435162345316274178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
ISI chief Faiz Hameed was in Kabul at the weekend, reportedly to be briefed by his country's ambassador. But he likely met with Taliban officials too.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, curse of the Taliban and Pakistan are heard from all over Kabul. 
In dozens points in Kabul, separate groups, mostly young men and women, have begun protesting. They are chanting "Death to Taliban" "Death to Pakistan"
????This one is from Dahan e Bagh area, Kabul. <a href="https://t.co/N3v93wBsm9">pic.twitter.com/N3v93wBsm9</a>
— Natiq Malikzada (@natiqmalikzada) <a href="https://twitter.com/natiqmalikzada/status/1435141284490989569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
The armed group has not yet announced a government, but the <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/talibans-mullah-mohammad-hassan-akhund-on-un-terror-list-could-be-afghan-prime-minister-5-points-2532409" target="_self">name of a lesser known Taliban leader</a> who is in the United Nations terror watch list, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, is doing the rounds as a compromise candidate for the next Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
Disagreements between the terrorist group's multiple factions have so far stymied government formation in the war-torn nation. <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/with-pak-help-lightweight-leader-may-be-picked-as-afghan-pm-sources-2532048" target="_self">The main contenders for power</a> include the Doha unit of the Taliban headed by Mullah Baradar, the Haqqani Network, a semi-independent terror outfit that operates in eastern Afghanistan, and the Kandahar faction of the Taliban.
There is speculation that the consensus to make Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund the next Prime Minister was arrived at during the Pakistan military intelligence chief's stay in Kabul.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-stay-away-isi-death-to-pakistan-slogans-at-kabul-protest-2532612">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-stay-away-isi-death-to-pakistan-slogans-at-kabul-protest-2532612</a>

news world Taliban Fire Shots To Disperse Crowds At Anti-Pak Protests In Kabul

Taliban Takeover: Protests broke out at Kabul against Pakistan for meddling in Afghanistan's affairs New Delhi: Hundreds of Kabul r...