By Daniel DePetris
There is no disputing the reality in Afghanistan anymore: after a weeks-long blitz, the Taliban are now the dominant actor on the ground. In fact, with the group in full control of Kabul, a city of 5 million people, the Taliban have taken on the trappings of Afghanistan's de-facto government.
Right now, Taliban fighters are in a boisterous mood. With the last American C-17 departing Kabul on Aug. 30, the Taliban's position is now virtually unchallenged except for a small resistance front in the Panjshir Valley that is now surrounded by Taliban fighters. Celebratory gunfire rang through Kabul during the night on Monday, the final day of Washington's 20 year-long presence in the country. The once impenetrable Green Zone is now a Taliban fiefdom, with the movement's political leaders setting up camp in former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's old offices. "Afghanistan is finally free," Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, said after the last U.S. troops evacuated. "Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe."
In the ensuing weeks and months, however, the Taliban may discover that trying to administer an impoverished, land-locked country divided along tribal, ethnic and political lines is in many ways more difficult than overthrowing a corrupt, foreign-dependent government in Kabul. While the Taliban has some experience operating shadow ministries in the provinces, collecting taxes over the people it rules and meting out justice as it sees fit, running an entire country of nearly 40 million people is a totally different ballgame.
This piece was originally published in Newsweek on September 3, 2021. Read more HERE.