Afghanistan is on fire again — and the world Is watching it burn
By GEN. HAIBATULLAH ALIZAI, former Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army, who warns that the world is in danger from the Taliban
Dear AQL readers: During the seven years that I was AP’s Middle East editor, until late 2018, despite endless fighting there were still hopes that Afghanistan might become a place that does not brutalize its own people. Brave journalists, local and foreign, documented the effort to beat back the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamist movement defined by its horrifying repression of women, minorities and dissent; famed photographer Anja Niedringhaus paid with her life. Toward the end of that period our bureau chief was the intrepid Lynne O’Donnell, who today runs the Substack of record on the country, Project Taliban, which I recommend highly for anyone who cares about Afghanistan.
In an astounding defeat for the US and NATO, the country is again under the boot of the Taliban. With Lynne’s permission AQL is republishing this article from the general who commanded the desperate last stand against the Taliban in Aug. 2021 and eventually fled to the United States. Gen. Haibatullah Alizai gives us a glimpse into how radicalization is again boiling over, argues that the Taliban are irredeemable, and warns that the world is in danger. He also underscores how Russia and China are not only in league with Iran but also, now, the Taliban — an extraordinary axis of evil that needs only Lord Voldemort to be complete.
Considering that during its first period of rule in the 1990s the Taliban hosted Al Qaeda, leading to the 9-11 attacks that begat the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, then ISIS and years of terrorism around the world, and a migration crisis fueling the rise of populism in the West, it’s definitely worth a read.
Dan Perry
By General Haibatullah Alizai
What’s happening to Afghan refugees today isn’t just cruel; it’s a ticking time bomb with global consequences.
Iran and Pakistan, neighboring countries to which many Afghans fled, have launched a brutal campaign of forced deportations, expelling millions of refugees with no notice, no compensation, and no explanation. In just a few weeks, Iran alone has pushed nearly a million Afghans back across the border, treating them not as human beings, but as disposable waste.
These are people who fled war, terrorism, and Taliban tyranny. They rebuilt their lives from scratch — homes, businesses, and livelihoods — in Iran and Pakistan. Now, they’re being shoved back into a shattered homeland, under a regime that sees them as strangers on their own soil.
And the Taliban? They’re too busy playing diplomatic dress-up and brokering backroom deals with Moscow and Beijing to care.
The Taliban-Russia Bargain: Blood for Recognition
The Taliban are selling Afghan lives for a version of international legitimacy. In exchange for Russia’s political recognition, the Taliban have reportedly offered to send fighters to support the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. This is more than just a diplomatic scandal — it is a strategic betrayal. They are exporting mercenaries to fuel a foreign war. They won’t stop at Ukraine. Wherever Russia wants chaos, the Taliban are ready to oblige, for a price.
Enter China: Profiting from the Wreckage
China is quietly carving out its own empire, with Afghan resources as the prize.
Beijing has emerged as the Taliban’s top economic partner, exploiting the chaos through opaque mining deals and infrastructure promises. From lithium to rare earths, Chinese state-linked companies are securing access to Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth — including resources that are critical to the global technological and energy transition.
In return, China offers the Taliban a veneer of legitimacy: high-level diplomatic meetings, symbolic recognition, and political shielding at the United Nations.
But China isn’t interested in Afghanistan’s stability. It wants access. The Taliban provide a cheap labor force, no regulatory oversight, and zero resistance to environmental destruction or labor abuses. For Beijing, Afghanistan is a business opportunity wrapped in strategic insulation against Western influence in Central Asia.
Deportations Are Fueling Extremist Recruitment
The flood of disillusioned, desperate, and angry returnees into Afghanistan is a dream come true for extremist recruiters.
ISIS-K, which is a regional affiliate of the Islamic State operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is rebuilding fast.
Al-Qaida is quietly re-establishing its networks.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is embedding operatives and sleeper cells in Afghan territory — preparing for proxy warfare should Iran face collapse.
And the Taliban themselves? They’re rolling out the red carpet for radicals.
These deportations are building an army of the hopeless, replete with prime targets for radicalization and recruitment.
This Isn’t a Local Tragedy — It’s a Global Threat
The West cannot afford to look away. Beyond the suffering of Afghanistan’s people, it is about a metastasizing security crisis that will cross borders and bleed into embassies, airports, and civilian life in Europe, the United States, and beyond.
Let’s be brutally honest:
The Taliban are copying the North Korea playbook of repression, propaganda, and weapons-for-recognition diplomacy.
Russia is using Afghanistan’s instability to fuel its war machine.
Iran is turning Afghanistan into a strategic insurance policy for its survival.
China is quietly transforming Afghanistan into an extraction colony, using the Taliban to secure minerals, suppress dissent, and keep Western influence at bay.
And the world is either asleep or pretending none of this is happening.
There’s Only One Solution: Remove the Root of the Cancer
“Managing” the Taliban is a fantasy. They are not a government. They are not moderating. They are an extremist syndicate dressed in statehood, weaponizing diplomacy and using human lives as currency.
There can be no regional security, no counterterrorism success, and no safety for refugees until the Taliban regime is removed and the movement wiped out.
The clock is ticking. The cost of waiting will not just be Afghan blood. It will be everyone’s.
Fascinating perspective, but what can the "world" do? Who is the world these days? This is what happens in a transactional world, the autocracies and superpowers will take what they can and no one is left to say "enough". Once the US abdicated its role as leader of the free world and moved to a "might makes right" stance where alliances were disposable and principles easily abandoned, all the checks and balances are gone. Russia and China will continue to whittle away at Western liberal democracy and encourage conflict everywhere while they achieve their strategic goals. And Trump is fine with this, as he reshapes America into his own personal Fatherland.
Sounds like the United States made a "HUGE" mistake in pulling out of Afghanistan. Did the U.S. not know about the lithium and rare earth minerals that Afghanistan possesses??
This situation presently occurring in Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Pakistan should be a worldwide headline, bad and dangerous news all around!