Have the Taliban changed and learned their lesson?

While the Taliban’s origins can be traced back to the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan, during which the CIA provided financial and military support to the zealous Taliban fighters, there are obvious distinctions between the Taliban of the preceding three decades and the Taliban of today.

Despite its Salafi legacy and political orientation, the Taliban deems itself an indispensable player in Afghanistan’s political future.

After two decades of war and unending catastrophes, the US has abandoned the Afghan army, leaving the Afghan government in Kabul completely defenseless vis-à-vis the approaching Taliban insurgents, while under the provisions of the Kabul-Washington agreement, which was never implemented, the Pentagon was responsible for training, equipping, and advising the Afghan army on military matters.

Due to the absence of US cooperation, Afghanistan’s opium production has reached new heights, and American troops in the war-torn nation have effectively turned into drug traffickers.

Although the US departure from Afghanistan has been a source of contention for years, new reports indicate that the US military’s presence in Afghanistan has increased in recent months, as NATO troops are believed to have hit an all-time high.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have scored lightning victories in several key areas across Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, some local leaders are forming small militias to resist the Taliban’s looming takeover, whereas senior Afghan officials have been evacuated and have sought refuge at the US embassy, terrified of Kabul’s collapse.

The outcome of the Doha negotiations, as well as earlier clandestine meetings between the Taliban and American representatives, suggest that the Taliban and the White House have achieved a level of agreement on security concerns.

The Taliban are not supposed to engage directly with Americans, and the US is not intended to impede their march toward the golden apple, Kabul. Thus, nobody should be deceived by a few US airstrikes on Taliban strongholds or mortar rounds fired at US positions by Taliban militants.

The complete devastation of Afghanistan after two decades is all but a cursed gift from the US administration to the Afghan people.

To achieve long-term peace and security, the Afghan government must accept that the only path to address the Afghan dilemma is to prioritize national interests and harness regional potential, particularly Iran’s paramount influence.

Apart from that, the Americans are primarily concerned with the security of Herat, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif, and it makes little difference to them if a bomb goes off in a crowded market in Kandahar or Bamyan, given their distance.