9/11: The end of the ‘forever wars’ Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe

On December 5, 2001, a range of agreements were exchanged at a meeting in Bonn, Germany. The Bonn Conference — as the United Nations (UN)-led endeavour came to be known — set out the markers of what a new Afghan government would look like.

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Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe.

This was the first major international effort, in the budding age of the War on Terror, to replace the old — the Taliban — with the virtues of renewal--“democracy, pluralism, and social justice”, as the Bonn text underlined. In a few cities such as Herat, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif, some citizens reclaimed the right to express newfound freedoms. Yet, these virtues of modernity —as the last 20 years have made clear —remain abstract for many Afghans in the hinterland..

Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe.

Afghanistan’s operating environment seemed to have changed forever. In 2001, it was believed that the Taliban had been defeated, temporarily at least. After all, reluctantly, a coalition of 42 countries led by the United States (US), committed themselves to what can only be described as nation-building.

The Taliban responded to these developments by indulging violently in rejectionist politics. It adapted instruments of modernity to suit its needs. The smartphone became the weapon of advantage. It recuperated, resisted, and finally invited itself to the negotiating table with bullets, bombs, and tweets alike.

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The combination of Pakistani refuge and encouragement, high levels of government corruption and political instability in Kabul, and the ever-dipping levels of public support for the war in Washington, London, Berlin, Paris, and other European capitals, ultimately led to the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

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The combination of Pakistani refuge and encouragement, high levels of government corruption and political instability in Kabul, and the ever-dipping levels of public support for the war in Washington, London, Berlin, Paris, and other European capitals, ultimately led to the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

A founding member of the movement in the 1990s, Mullah Hassan Akhund, has effectively been made the prime minister (PM) of an unelected caretaker government. He is understood to be a compromise candidate able to band-aid deep-seated differences within the movement. Abdul Ghani Baradar — who has been spearheading negotiations in Doha for the last three years — has been made the deputy PM. Sirajjudin Haqqani, a “specially designated global terrorist” is acting interior minister. Mullah Omar’s son, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, has been made the acting defence minister. Omar offered Osama bin Laden a home in Kandahar in the late 1990s.

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Sri