Specialist does not rule out Western support if Taliban form pragmatic government – Telam

Argentinian journalist Fernando Ducls, who lived and worked in Afghanistan For international media, he said the key to the Taliban’s new rise to power is “to see if they are equal to those who ruled between 1996 and 2001” with an extreme theocratic regime that suffered, in particular, women, or are they a little more suited to today’s world, and he does not rule out that “if they face a pragmatic government, they can count on the support of Russia and China and even from the West ”.

“When the Taliban were in power, the world was completely different from what it is today and it’s up to them to get international recognition now that they didn’t have it 25 years ago. In 1996 they were only recognized by Pakistan, the Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia “, he said in dialogue with Tlam Ducls, who shared his experiences in Afghanistan on Twitter under the username “@periodistn”.

“The Taliban are not the same as in 1996, when they were predominantly Pashtun. Now they have spread and include Uzbeks, Tajiks, Saras … there are many changes, which may allow us to view the situation with some optimism, he added.

In this sense, Ducls commented on the photo of an Afghan TV presenter that on Saturday she walked out wearing western clothes and her hair was loose and on Sunday she appeared dressed in black and her hair was completely covered. “This situation is worse than the day before yesterday, but a thousand times better than in 1996, when the Taliban first banned television and second, there could be no woman without a burqa covering her face.”

“So I think when this initial chaos is over, the Taliban will have to reign, and there we will see if they are the same as 25 years ago, no matter what they think, or if they can. establishing a more pragmatic government can be accepted without too much itching by the West ”.

“He would not rule out the possibility that the Talibn movement is supported by the West, let alone if the possibility of doing business is open. There are very important pipelines to build. Gas from the former Soviet Union from Pakistan. There is a lot to rebuild, because Afghanistan is a destroyed country, ”he noted.

In this diagram, “if the Taliban go back to 1996, to this regime in which women could not even study, then it will be very difficult for the West to support them, but if they propose a conservative, traditionalist, religious government. with some prohibited and others not, type Irn … well, ah for the West it’s something else. Everyone is waiting to see what they do, because they are the new Taliban. Can they become the old Taliban again? Yes they can. This is why we are all waiting, because we do not know, ”added the specialist journalist.

In this panorama, the geopolitical factor is therefore decisive. “Russia, which already lost in Afghanistan when it was the USSR, is not going to venture into anything else. And China is very attentive and, besides, it does not usually interfere in the politics of other countries, it does business. “But” I do not exclude at all that they may also have links with the West.. It depends on whether they are pragmatic and moderate, they can be calmly accepted by the international community, especially if they see business opportunities ”.

Regarding what it means for the United States to lose the longest war in its history, Ducls said that “symbolically, because I already knew this war was going nowhere, it is a gigantic defeat and resounding “for Washington.

After a 20-year invasion, trying to bring back its Western values, in just 15 days since its withdrawal everything has returned to zero, “he said,” how would Washington now justify an invasion, “he said. he reflected.

“It’s very difficult to compare with Vietnam, beyond some images of the hasty withdrawal, but it’s also thunderous because of the speed with which it took place. It is a huge defeat symbolically and as we see the United States. in the world. China must have both eyes wide open as it watches the United States withdraw from Afghanistan, which borders China. This is why this defeat is very important in the analysis.