It has been seven months since the Taliban sacked Kabul. The Taliban push into Afghanistan’s capital came against the backdrop of President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from the country, as well as special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad’s ego-driven diplomacy and bizarre trust in the Taliban’s sincerity.
The Taliban’s role as an indigenous group ended soon after they emerged in 1994. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency co-opted the group, resourced them, and ran them as its proxy. Utilizing the Taliban to shelter al Qaeda, Kashmiri separatist groups, and various other jihadists gave Islamabad plausible deniability as it sought to further its ideological and diplomatic aims by terrorism. Pakistani officials not only planned and coordinated the Taliban’s final push through Afghanistan but contributed several thousand troops to their campaign. As Americans withdrew in utter chaos, both Pakistani civilians and military officials gloated.
