After 20 Years of the US Military Machine Fighting Them, the Taliban Hold 52% of Afghanistan’s Land
Home to 41% of the population. Empire to lose another war
Editor’s note: We may have precious few reasons to like the Taliban but if they are able to accomplish this with just minor Pakistani support, against the entire NATO and its trillions of dollars, it would indicate that in Afghan eyes, and in comparison to the Western-backed collaborators in Kabul, they are the more legitimate and proper Afghan government.
With hopes that the 2020 US peace deal and intra-Afghan peace talks might ultimately end decades of war, some uncomfortable facts remain, raising the question of who controls Afghanistan anymore.
The US would insist the Ghani government is the lawfully elected government there, but the facts on the ground show that the Taliban physically control 52% of the country, compared to only 48% in government hands.
That’s a staggering amount when one considers that the Taliban has been fighting 20 solid years of war with both the would-be government and NATO. It would be hard to imagine that people living in Taliban territory wouldn’t feel that the Taliban, who was the Afghan government before the 2001 invasion, is effectively still in charge.
The Ghani government has focused mostly on densely populated areas, and argues they control 59% of the population. Yet Afghanistan is not a nation of cities by and large, but a rural country with a lot of natural resources and farms. Controlling physical land is ultimately more important to the country’s future.
This has been the case for some time, with the Taliban having retained important parts of the country, particularly in the south and southwest.
Source: Antiwar.com
It’s not about winning any War,
,it’s about Perpetual War,
causing Chaos,Death and Destruction..
Also as to Afghanistan,it’s part of the plan to surround and Threaten/Pressure China..
and control and Profit from the Heroin Trade.
Over 20 Years now, I’d say the Plan is working..
Don’t see the US and it’s Allies leaving anytime soon.
Afghanistan belongs to Afghans.
The US went to Afghanistan supposedly to get Osama bin-Laden . They did so because the Taliban wanted proof of OBL involvement before turning him over. Of course the US had no such proof. Once there the US decided to bring the US form of democracy that many Americans now experience.
And then there’s that little matter of opium production that the Taliban had reduced to almost zero. Within a year of the American occupation the opium production was back and American troops were used to guard it from the Taliban who was now likely using it to procure weapons to fight the American invaders.
always follow the money….
sorry but the premise is wrong therfore the conclusion is wrong also.
US’s goal isnt there to “win” wars. Its there to sit there and occupy Afghanistan so China and/or Russia cannot take it.
The Empire might have lost the war, but the military0industrial complex have gotten filthy rich.