https://sputnikglobe.com/20210817/taliban-victory-shows-world-power-centres-moving-east-ex-pentagon-aide-says-1083631926.html
Taliban Victory Shows World Power Centres Moving East, Ex-Pentagon Aide Says
Taliban Victory Shows World Power Centres Moving East, Ex-Pentagon Aide Says
Sputnik International
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban* is another strong sign that the centres of world power are moving eastwards across... 17.08.2021, Sputnik International
2021-08-17T00:19+0000
2021-08-17T00:19+0000
2023-04-13T12:43+0000
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The Taliban completed their takeover of Kabul on Sunday, the speed of which caught Washington by surprise as images of a chaotic American evacuation have gone viral, invoking memories of Saigon."I do see this transition of power as one more sign that the power centres of the planet are eastward and Asian, not westward and Eurocentric", Kwiatkowski said. "The lack of emphasis on having the new Afghan public spokesmen speaking in English or even addressing the US and English speaking world indicates this shift".The former Pentagon aide said Afghans are likely to adapt faster than expected.Younger generations who had grown up in a city at war, protected by US money and soldiers, and those who had suffered the poverty of war in the provinces would have different perspectives, Kwiatkowski explained.The previous Afghan government had been looting its American sponsors as well as the Afghan people and territory for nearly 20 years, Kwiatkowski explained."The Taliban - thanks to over 30 years of war with the Russians, the Russian-backed secular government, and the last 20 with the US and its puppet government in Kabul - has been transformed from a decentralised and traditional culture-centered entity into something more akin to a western hierarchical military state", she said.The Taliban today is more able than it ever was before to govern the entire country, she advised.Russia and China had long prepared for the Taliban takeover and both major powers were ready to seek constructive relations with the new regime in Kabul, she said.*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.
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Taliban Victory Shows World Power Centres Moving East, Ex-Pentagon Aide Says
00:19 GMT 17.08.2021 (Updated: 12:43 GMT 13.04.2023) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban* is another strong sign that the centres of world power are moving eastwards across Asia, former Department of Defence veteran analyst Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, told Sputnik.
The Taliban
completed their takeover of Kabul on Sunday, the speed of which caught Washington by surprise as images of a chaotic American evacuation have gone viral, invoking memories of Saigon.
"I do see this transition of power as one more sign that the power centres of the planet are eastward and Asian, not westward and Eurocentric", Kwiatkowski said. "The lack of emphasis on having the new Afghan public spokesmen speaking in English or even addressing the US and English speaking world indicates this shift".
The former Pentagon aide said Afghans are likely to adapt faster than expected.
"By Afghan standards, and the standards of 20 years of US occupations, black sites, torture and constant and repeated destruction of Afghanistan people, territory, industry and environment, I think the Taliban rule will for many in the country be something they adapt to quickly and see as 'better', at least initially", she said.
Younger generations who had grown up in a city at war, protected by US money and soldiers, and those who had suffered the poverty of war in the provinces would have different perspectives, Kwiatkowski explained.
The previous Afghan government had been looting its American sponsors as well as the Afghan people and territory for nearly 20 years, Kwiatkowski explained.
The Taliban movement now taking power in Kabul is vastly different from the regime that the United States and local militias easily routed in 2001, Kwiatkowski pointed out.
16 August 2021, 23:05 GMT
"The Taliban - thanks to over 30 years of war with the Russians, the Russian-backed secular government, and the last 20 with the US and its puppet government in Kabul - has been transformed from a decentralised and traditional culture-centered entity into something more akin to a western hierarchical military state", she said.
The Taliban today is more able than it ever was before to govern the entire country, she advised.
Russia and China had long prepared for the Taliban takeover and both major powers were ready to seek constructive relations with the new regime in Kabul, she said.
The former Pentagon official said she remains somewhat concerned about retaliatory bomb and missile strikes at the demand of US senators, congressmen "and a shaky and geriatric administration that seems increasingly hysterical and disconnected from reality".
*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.
