For all the recriminations and finger-pointing about how the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan so rapidly, there is a hard truth that needs to be reckoned with: The Taliban have spent years preparing for the eventual U.S. withdrawal. Year by year, Taliban soldiers methodically gained ground as they coerced and co-opted large swaths of the population now living under their rule and set up a shadow state. To some extent, the world already knows how that will work, because the Taliban have been essentially controlling parts of Afghanistan for years. There is little indication that the Taliban are equipped to govern the cities — or the country as a whole — on their own. Women have moved relatively freely, worked and attended school, and social norms writ large have sharply diverged from the Taliban’s mentality.

Source: International New York Times August 17, 2021 17:26 UTC