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22 Apr, 2017 14:53

Mother of all schemes: ‘US seeks more chaos in Afghanistan to justify intervention’

Mother of all schemes: ‘US seeks more chaos in Afghanistan to justify intervention’

The US knows exactly what it is doing in Afghanistan. It is trying to egg on Taliban and ISIS fighters so that it could create more chaos, and thereby justifying its intervention, says Catherine Shakdam, Shafaqna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies.

The number of people killed in a Taliban attack on a military base in Afghanistan, has risen to 140. The perpetrators, dressed in Afghan military uniforms, attacked the base during Friday prayers at a mosque there.

RT:  The Taliban attack came days after the US dropped a huge bomb on an ISIS target in the country. Could there be a connection?

Some Taliban factions have sworn allegiance to ISIS. Some Taliban fighters were also killed by the bomb. Was this revenge maybe?

Catherine Shakdam: That definitely an alliance being built between ISIS and the Taliban. You have to remember that they stem from the same ideology and their goals are rather similar. Even though they may go about a different way, and they may be less radical, and their approach are less bloody anyway than ISIS. Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram – they all stem from the same thing – it is Wahhabism. I think there are two layers to look at when you consider this attack. The first thing is that when the US dropped this "Mother of all the bombs" on Afghanistan, they targeted an area which is majority Shia. That to me sent a signal to the Taliban and ISIS that it is ok to be driving this sectarian narrative and to try to divide the country further along sectarian lines - even though Afghanistan was not historically prone to sectarianism. That is the first thing.

The second layer to this, and again, it is quite… nefarious is that the Taliban and ISIS have now I would say justification and excuse to go about and target the Afghan forces, because now they can say it is a revenge attack. Whenever Western powers or foreign powers - full stop - attack civilians, then again it is playing into the narrative that Wahhabis have had, that they have to "free their land from foreign dictate and colonialism." So it is very dangerous, because the US is not helping at all. Not only have they targeted civilians – in their attacking - yes, a few ISIS fighters we killed in the process. But they are not helping towards unifying Afghanistan until it is finding a national solution, which would empower the Afghan military forces and security forces.

Kamal Alam, military analyst, on attack in Afghanistan:

This has been an ongoing process now for the last few years, when the Americans have wanted to negotiate with the Taliban, but the Afghan government themselves are pretty confused, because it is a national unity government. There is a President Ashraf Ghani and the Chief Executive Officer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. They don’t quite agree on whether the Afghan government should talk to the Taliban. There are some who call the Taliban “brothers” … while there are those amongst the Afghan security services that call the Taliban ‘terrorists.’

That is dangerous, because you’re eroding at the country’s national right and sovereignty and you are disappearing the sense of nationality, the sense of identity. To be quite fair with you, I think the US knows exactly what it is doing. It is not trying to solve the situation. It is trying to egg on Taliban fighters and ISIS fighters so that it could create more chaos, and justify its intervention and make sure it will continue to exert power over Kabul.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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