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The Return of the Taliban
What it means for girl’s education and the respect of human rights
Many of us who served in Afghanistan over the last 20 years have been absolutely horrified to see the Taliban rise once again and retake power in that country. The speed at which it occurred and the lack of any real resistance from the Afghan government, its military and/or its police is baffling and will certainly be the subject of much study and analysis for academics and historians in years to come.
In the advent of the takeover, we’ve witnessed a number of Taliban spokesmen reassure the outside world that they intend (operative word) to respect human rights, the rights of women and young girls, as well as engage in a meaningful way with the international community BUT, we all know that they are both incapable and unwilling to do so. For anyone to think otherwise — You’re dreaming in technicolor.
If you require proof of this, have a look at the make-up of the Taliban cabinet. NOT a single women amongst the lot! NOT ONE! And if that wasn’t bad enough, they have appointed Sirajuddin Haqqani of the infamous Haqqani Network as Afghanistan’s new Minister of the Interior — A guy from a known terrorist organization!
My disgust and disappointment of Haqqani as the Interior Minister is well founded and based on first hand experience. During my tour of Afghanistan…