Photo: Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
AFGHANISTAN, October 12, 2021 ~ Just more than a month after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban are showing little sign they are in control of a rapidly devolving situation.
“It remains to be seen how the Taliban will approach that,” said Congressman Peter Meijer to 760 WJR’s Kevin Dietz. “They are clearly grasping at straws to try to maintain their own legitimacy dealing with an economic crisis that is spinning out of control, a currency crisis that is compounding, food shortages, in addition to having tens of thousands of their fighters that they are struggling to put towards productive work.”
October 12, 2021 ~ Congressman Peter Meijer talks with Kevin Dietz about the ongoing events in Afghanistan.
The threat of ISIS-K — the group behind the Abbey Gate attack in Kabul on August 26 which killed nearly 200 people — is rising. Friday, another bombing in a mosque in Kunduz killed more than 70 people and injured almost 150 more. This is the third bombing by ISIS-K since the Taliban invaded Kabul August 15.
“Toward the end of the Trump Administration, one of the goals was to establish a follow-on security presence in Afghanistan to counter that transnational threat of terrorism, and that the Taliban, given their mutual interest, could be a functional security partner in that, as bizarre as that sounds,” said Meijer. “Now the way the concept ended, with a complete Taliban victory, we have less leverage to be able to negotiate that.”
“Sometimes a proxy war is the best route,” said FBI Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Andy Arena to Kevin Dietz. “We certainly don’t want to see any more American lives lost overseas, but the flipside is we certainly don’t want to see Americans’ lives lost here in this country due to a terrorist attack.”
October 12, 2021 ~ Andy Arena talks with Kevin Dietz about if the US should team up with Afghanistan to fight ISIS-K.
Despite President Biden labeling the evacuation in Afghanistan an “extraordinary success,” many still remain in the country, including female judges, women’s rights activists, former US Embassy workers, military translators, and possibly thousands of others whose views are being targeted by the Taliban. When asked, the state department declined to comment on the number of people connected to the US Embassy still stuck in the country.
According to reports, the Taliban has not followed through with many of their promises, including instituting better treatment of women. Many women are still not allowed to attend school or work. The strict views of Sharia Law are still being imposed by the terrorist group. For fear of reprisals, many are only speaking to the press under anonymity.
“One of the things we are seeing is a complete disregard for civilian fatalities, a complete disregard for the impact on the civilian community, and continuing to target minority ethnic groups,” said Meijer.
Just days ago, reports surfaced of four alleged kidnappers who were killed by the Taliban, their bodies then hung from cranes. One had a message around their neck saying others who kidnap will suffer the same fate.
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