The emergence of ISIS in Afghanistan, along with the impending withdrawal of US-NATO troops from the country, has driven the Taliban into a marriage of convenience, if not an outright alliance, with Iran. What seemed like an unfathomable scenario just a few years ago, Shia Iran’s support for the hardline Sunni Taliban has become a reality due to the changing circumstances of the war. Though it may be hard to believe, such an alliance is now a critical element of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. But its significance is far larger than just shifting the balance of power within the country. Instead, Afghanistan is now in many ways a proxy conflict between the US and its western and Gulf allies on the one hand, and Iran and certain non-western countries, most notably China, on the other. If the contours of the conflict might not be immediately apparent, that is only because the western media, and all the alleged brainiacs of the corporate think tanks, have failed to present the conflict in its true context. The narrative of Afghanistan, to the extent that it’s discussed at all, continues to be about terrorism and stability, nation-building and “support.” But this is a fundamental misunderstanding and mischaracterization of the current war, and the agenda driving it. And what is this new and dangerous agenda? It is about no less than the future of Afghanistan and Central Asia. It is about the US and its allies clinging to the country, a key foothold in the region, and wanting to find any pretext to maintain their presence. It is about Iran and China positioning themselves in the country for the inevitable moment of US withdrawal and the opening up of Afghanistan’s economy. At the most basic level, it is about access and influence. And, as usual in this part of the world, terrorism and extremism are the most potent weapons. The spectre of IS expanding its reach to other territories and spreading its brand of relentless savagery to other corners of the world is a fearful one. In a strange way, the Taliban’s success in containing them is welcome, especially when it is not just the Taliban who are resisting but also a quasi-coalition of the Afghan government, NATO and ordinary Afghan citizens. The IS has ambitions of world domination, and the appeal they currently have for disaffected people from all over the globe has to be countered. The IS and its hateful ideology are unquestionably the worst threat facing humanity today, and it will be to the betterment of concerned regimes to place the need to fend off IS on the top of their priority list. Already we have evidence of how the IS has a tendency to focus the minds of its enemies against it, with Turkey letting go of its regional plans and ambitions to join the coalition airstrikes against IS in Syria. No alliance can be seen as too inconceivable to consider in the fight against IS and the threat of it encroaching on more territories. In the case of Afghanistan, it is a difficult decision but it is preferable to have only one major network of fighters rather than multiple, since if only the Taliban are being dealt with, they can be nudged to the negotiating table. Needless to say, the IS has never shown any proclivity for peace talks. All possible options and efforts must be utilised to stop it in its tracks.
pk.shafaqna.com
