981: In Afghanistan, a fractured state, Taliban demand zero American presence. @thomasjoscelyn, @billroggio
Image: Members of the Anti-Taliban Forces (ATF) scan the area, around a Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM) site destroyed by coalition air sorties, in order to locate unexploded munitions. This site is near their observation post, near the Kandahar International Airport, Kandahar, Afghanistan, during OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM Tom Joscelyn, @thomasjoscelyn, Long War Journal and FDD; and Bill Roggio, @billroggio, Long War Journal and FDD; in re: The Biden administration and the vast landscape of the jihad. Afghanistan: Taliban demand every single American be gone. Taliban and ISIS are enemies, but al Qaeda and Taliban are hand in glove. Forget a power-sharing arrangement between Taliban and the Afghan government. Biden may not be able to thread this needle. US embassy security is to keep perimeters from being breached; could not stop a real attack. This is down to: can the US keep even a small deployment force in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere? Afghanistan is a fractured state.