Small Wars Journal

The Return of a Taliban Government? Afghanistan Talks Raise Once-Unthinkable Question.

Wed, 01/30/2019 - 3:25am

The Return of a Taliban Government? Afghanistan Talks Raise Once-Unthinkable Question. By Pamela Constable – Washington Post

There is nothing on paper, only the vague outline of an agreement between American and Taliban negotiators in Qatar that could lead to U.S. troops withdrawing. There are more talks to come, and U.S. officials have said any final deal with the Islamist insurgents must include a “dialogue” among Afghans.

 

But as news of the tentative accord spread Tuesday, the same question was worrying many ­Kabul residents — middle-aged women who remembered being forced to wear burqas, day laborers who fled rural fighting, college students who have grown up wearing jeans and surfing the Net.

 

What if the Taliban comes back to power?

 

It seems unthinkable, after 17 years of elected government, burgeoning malls and apartment complexes, ubiquitous cellphones and ATMs, that this capital of 6 million could again become a cowed, deserted city patrolled by turbaned religious enforcers with whips…

Read on.