These are concise answers to the most frequent questions about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. For further reading, you can check the articles linked below, or search this blog using the search box on the right.
The Doha Agreements
What are the Doha Agreements under which the United States committed to leaving Afghanistan?
The Doha Agreements are peace accords signed in 2020 by the Trump Administration and the Taliban (effectively excluding the Afghan government then in office), in which US forces committed to leaving Afghanistan within fourteen months of the publication of the negotiation in exchange for a Taliban commitment not to make deals with terrorist organizations or offer asylum to any of them. The agreement explicitly names al-Qaeda among these.
Are the Taliban respecting the Doha Agreements?
No, and this was evident from the start. Afghanistan still hosts many terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda itself, as confirmed by the fact that Ayman al-Zawahri was hiding in Kabul when he was killed by an American drone mission.
Moreover, in August 2023, a UN Security Council report stated that many terrorist organizations are hiding in Afghanistan and that these have access to weapons left behind by US forces.
The Return to Power by the Taliban
Why did the Afghan army collapse so quickly?
As explained by former NCIS agent Craig Covert in an interview for this blog, there are multiple reasons. First of all, there is no sense of national unity, because Afghanistan is a patchwork of tribes that have no motivation to fight for a central government. There is not even a single language; Pashto, Dari, and dozens of dialects are spoken. To this lack of national unity must be added the corruption and incompetence of Afghan military and political leaders.
Do the Taliban possess American weapons?
Yes. As explained by Craig Covert in the interview linked above, the Americans took care to disable the equipment they left in Afghanistan, but things like ammunition cannot be disabled. Additionally, the Taliban stole much of the equipment from Afghan leaders to whom the US forces had entrusted it.
What are the main terrorist groups present in Afghanistan?
In addition to al-Qaeda and obviously the Taliban, the main terrorist organizations present in Afghanistan are ISIS-Khorasan (an affiliate of the Islamic State in Central Asia) and the Haqqani Network (founded in the 1970s, its aim is to establish a regime in Afghanistan that enforces sharia law and rejects all forms of Westernization).
Did Qatar bribe Afghan leaders so they wouldn’t resist the Taliban?
This news was reported only by TG1 in February and May 2023 and has not been picked up since by any national or international network. At present, this hypothesis raises more questions than certainties.
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