Am I wrong about the Taliban having ambitions for a fundamentalist world order? Or maybe just some levant-adjacent order?
What are Pashtu values like you say?that's one of the biggest misconceptions. they're not interested at all. they're all about 'we were the government of afghanistan and we want to be the government of afghanistan again'. and maybe a bit of pakistan too but that's a pipe dream. they do have quite / very fundamentalist beliefs, though i guess i'd describe those beliefs as being the local pashtun interpretation of islam, ie it has a big dollop of pashtun values in the mix.
but they're not part of that al-qaeda-daesh continuum of global jihadists. that's something else.
“lads” 🥊i want to settle this once and for all because you all have pieces of the puzzle.
i'm fairly high up in al qaeda, but i'm on a secondment to Vice at the moment. i'm able to do all of this low-paid work due to my footballing career. I am most proud of my time at Reading and bitterly regret leaving. I am in Quetta outside of my work for either AQ or Vice, this one is strictly reporting for the lads of dissensus.
(i feel like a dick not just saying 'this is what i am doing' but it would be way too easy to figure out who i am in real life. i do humanitarian aid stuff basically in the properly professional 'wear a shirt and have meetings' bit of that world. but along the way have developed a sideline hobbiest interest in afghan and pakistani politics)
Thanks for the clarification. Do you think Taliban would be willing to comply with those who do have global aspirations here, if even uneasily as a geopolitical alliance? Or are you saying such things are simply beyond their stated scope?that's one of the biggest misconceptions. they're not interested at all. they're all about 'we were the government of afghanistan and we want to be the government of afghanistan again'. and maybe a bit of pakistan too but that's a pipe dream. they do have quite / very fundamentalist beliefs, though i guess i'd describe those beliefs as being the local pashtun interpretation of islam, ie it has a big dollop of pashtun values in the mix.
but they're not part of that al-qaeda-daesh continuum of global jihadists. that's something else.
The United States has an outsized role to play in deciding what happens to Afghanistan's $9 billion in gold and foreign currency reserves. Of that, $7 billion is held in the United States, with $1.3 billion in other international accounts and some $700,000 by the Bank for International Settlements, the Afghan central bank governor tweeted after fleeing the country.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended Afghanistan's access to IMF resources on Aug. 18, including $440 million in new emergency reserves.
Afghanistan relies on imports for the lion's share of the food and fuel consumed and clothing. It imported $8.6 billion in goods in 2019, topped by peat, wheat and petroleum, according to World Bank data. Some 70% of electrical power is imported at an annual cost of $270 million.
The Taliban cannot pay for such imports without access to dollars and Afghanistan's foreign currency reserves; it had enough reserves to pay for an estimated two days of imports when overseas assets were frozen. The U.S. and allies could condition access to dollar transactions or reserves on Taliban behavior.
Afghanistan also relies heavily on remittances, with such payments from migrant workers overseas accounting for about 4% of the country's gross domestic product.
Western Union, the world's largest money transfer firm, and Moneygram have both suspended such services, shutting off the flow of funds that many families rely on to pay for food. Reopening these services would require an easing of U.S. financial sanctions.
This bit is too ridiculousi want to settle this once and for all because you all have pieces of the puzzle.
i'm fairly high up in al qaeda, but i'm on a secondment to Vice at the moment. i'm able to do all of this low-paid work due to my footballing career. I am most proud of my time at Reading and bitterly regret leaving. I am in Quetta outside of my work for either AQ or Vice, this one is strictly reporting for the lads of dissensus.