DrZoidberg
Contributor
I get the basics. Hamid Karzai and then Ashraf Ghani ran a shit show of a corrupt government, who only managed to stay in power becasue they were held under the arms with American money. Without the spigot of free cash, it fell apart with astonishing speed.
The Taliban couldn't possibly have seized power any faster. So clearly the Afghan people really really preferred the Taliban. Before the US led invasion the Taliban had only been in power 6 years. The post Taliban regime was in power for 20 years. Plenty of time to establish themselves. More time than the Taliban had had.
But I don't get, why? What are the Taliban doing that makes them so popular? Half the country is women. I find it hard to believe they prefer the Taliban regime. Based on the news we get from there the image of the Taliban couldn't possibly be worse. They economy is in shambles and they're facing starvation. Yet, their government seems to be getting on great, and has popular support.
I don't buy the religious fantaticism angle. Both Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani were devout Muslims. Their entire cabinet consisted only of Muslims. It was just as much a Muslim government as the Taliban was.
The best theory I have heard is that the Afghanis are intensily patriotic. Both Karzai and Ghani were seen as puppet-rulers of a foreign occupier. So their regimes had no chance. It hadn't mattered what they'd done. They were tainted in advance. That would make it similar to the South Vietnamese regime, toppled by North Vietnam. But just because a theory makes logical sense, it doesn't mean it's actually true. Does anyone here know?
The Taliban couldn't possibly have seized power any faster. So clearly the Afghan people really really preferred the Taliban. Before the US led invasion the Taliban had only been in power 6 years. The post Taliban regime was in power for 20 years. Plenty of time to establish themselves. More time than the Taliban had had.
But I don't get, why? What are the Taliban doing that makes them so popular? Half the country is women. I find it hard to believe they prefer the Taliban regime. Based on the news we get from there the image of the Taliban couldn't possibly be worse. They economy is in shambles and they're facing starvation. Yet, their government seems to be getting on great, and has popular support.
I don't buy the religious fantaticism angle. Both Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani were devout Muslims. Their entire cabinet consisted only of Muslims. It was just as much a Muslim government as the Taliban was.
The best theory I have heard is that the Afghanis are intensily patriotic. Both Karzai and Ghani were seen as puppet-rulers of a foreign occupier. So their regimes had no chance. It hadn't mattered what they'd done. They were tainted in advance. That would make it similar to the South Vietnamese regime, toppled by North Vietnam. But just because a theory makes logical sense, it doesn't mean it's actually true. Does anyone here know?