Afghan government collapse.

[The Free North]

The population of Afghanistan is only 40 million.  Time is obviously an issue, but the west could easily get the 'best and brightest' Afghanis out over several months.  I think Canada could easily take 50,000 Afghan refugees and immigrants.

This is especially true for the Afghani women.  The Taliban don't want them, and I think most Canadians would welcome them with open arms. That's a win-win.

So basically steal all of the intellectual resources from the country which will set them even further back from the rest of the world? What type of neo-colonialist nonsense is that?

First of all, what makes you think you have the right to do such a thing and second what makes you think Canadians want 50,000 Afghanis just dumped in their country? Incredibly arrogant policy, my lord.....

[The Free North]

I can't remember much from 2001 but i'm curious if it would have been possible to try to root out Bin Laden without doing much to the established order in Kabul?

Al-Qaeda and the Taliban obviously have serious cultural, ethnic, and political differences and I haven't read much about the Taliban seeking to attack the US homeland directly.

[The Free North]

While it's clear US forces and the Biden Admin were ill prepared for this, it's too easy to shift the blame only on ourselves and our allies. This situation is equally - if not more - a catastrophic failure of a corrupt Afghan govt that never managed to win enough public support, an incompetent military leadership and outright quitting members of the Afghan forces, who technically are superior to the Taliban militarily.

Another major NATO mistake was clearly not to take roles of other regional players into account, Pakistan in particular. Taliban would have never gotten that strong without political, military and logistical support from outside. Unfortunately, we never went forcefully enough after their supporters. To extinguish a fire, you first need to cut off the oxygen.

And in turn it was our fault in turning the 2001 invasion into a war against the Taliban and trying to nation build in a nation without an effective government for a generation.

[The Free North]

Per BBC liveblog:

Afghanistan will not be a democracy under the Taliban, a senior member of the militant movement has told the Reuters news agency.

Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the group's decision-making, said: "There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country.

"We will not discuss what type of political system should we apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. It is sharia law and that is it."

The movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, would likely remain in overall charge of the country, Hashimi said.

The Taliban would also reach out to former pilots and soldiers from the Afghan armed forces to join its ranks, he added.

"It is sharia law and that is it."

There's the good ol' Taliban we knew there was all along. I doubt they will keep up the "reasonable" and "modern" facade for too much longer. 

It will only force civil war out faster. The US is gone finally, there is no foreign occupier to blame. The Taliban now have to do the most difficult thing for all opposition groups: rule a country.

People will not be happy and then we shall see the strength of the emirate. Perhaps it will endure, perhaps it will collapse. Whatever happens should be firmly in the hands of Afghans and not foreign powers.