Pandora Papers, again we knew!

”Revolutionary socialists warned about this for years. How the rich and the capitalists of the world, evade taxes by playing on capitalist laws to hide their fortunes. Because our laws are created by those who serve capitalism, they benefit those with a lot of money. Not only the owners of our economy hide their money; politicians, celebrities and even a none-profit group have used foreign banks to evade taxes. Revolutionary Socialist Media is not surprised by the leaks called the Panama Papers. The capitalist system works in favour of the 1%”. That was the opening of the article: ”Panama Papers, we knew” written on 11 April 2016. Back then the Panama Papers exposed to the world how capitalists evade taxes to enrich themselves, now the Pandora Papers say the same but on a much larger scale.

The capitalist media will not cover this too broadly. Because just as in 2016, nothing has been done to stop rich people from using tax heavens. The capitalist system favours them and their eternal greed. At fault here are the governments of the world, who (as capitalism) favour the 1% or ruling class as we revolutionary socialists call them. New famous names on the list include the elitist king of Jordan, the right-wing war criminal Tony Blair, ”czar” Vladimir Putin (not surprised) and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who claims to be harsh on corruption.

It is estimated that 32 trillion U.S dollars have been hidden from being taxed. The Paradise Papers and Panama Papers told us years ago what revolutionary socialists have been saying for decades. Capitalists hate taxes and they use corruption and tax heavens to hide their millions from being taxed in their native countries. One big capitalist family named is the ruling Aliyev family of Azerbaijan. This family is the dynasty that governs the Republic of Azerbaijan since 1993. Ilham Aliyev is the current ”monarch” who inherited the presidency from his father, who was a KGB boss during the Soviet period.

Another more official monarchist family who made sure their money was not taxed is the Royal House of Jordan. King Abdullah II has embezzled over 95 million dollars and used that money to buy luxurious villa’s in Europe. Meanwhile working class Jordanians are suffering from poverty and low wages. 35% of all youth in the Kingdom of Jordan has no work. Meanwhile the king and his elitist family are enjoying privileges and massive wealth and yet they still hide money from their own tax collectors.

”Czar” Vladimir Putin is said to hide his money in the Principality of Monaco. His circle of rich cronies is doing the same thing. Rich Russians and the top of the Kremlin bureaucracy have always hide money outside the Russian Federation. The reasons are clear, they fear a potential revolution and expropriations as we saw in 1917. Russian capitalists know that they are hated and they rather have their millions stored in tax heavens far way, in case they need to escape the current ”Russian Empire” of Vladimir Putin.

The Paradise Papers, Panama Papers and now Pandora Papers show us why capitalism must be abolished. No government regulation can stop the ruling class from hiding their money outside the reach of the tax collector. This is why we call for the expropriation of all millionaires, billionaires and members of the ruling class. People like King Abdullah II, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and many others do not deserve to be millionaires/billionaires. It is the system that allows them to hide money away. Since all countries are capitalist we cannot trust them to collect taxes equally.

Moscow is already denying everything as they have done in the past. The Jordanian king is also denying any fault. This is typical behaviour of elitist people who see themselves above the common worker and their families. Using tax heavens and offshore companies to enrich themselves and their own. Not just dictator and authoritarian leaders have been exposed. Western leaders like Tony Blair have also been named. The former Labour leader and war criminal used an offshore company, to hide 364.000 British pounds that he had to pay in taxes.

What is next? Nothing will change if we allow the current leaders of the world to stay in power. We cannot trust leaders like Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping. All three are imperialist and serve their own needs. Neither the United States of America, the European Union, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China are going to stop the massive tax evasion by their own capitalists and leaders. We need a political and economic revolution to end the private ownership over the means of production. Those who have been exposed need to be put on trial for tax evasion and should be fined heavily.

The Pandora Papers report that there are over 95.000 offshore companies in use to dump untaxed money. These companies are then used to buy luxurious products unavailable to common workers. It is worse enough that there are millionaires and billionaires, when billions of workers are living in poverty due to low incomes. The capitalist system need to be abolished and replaced by democratic socialism under control of working class people. For that to happen we need to organize and build up working class political parties that dare to be revolutionary socialist and anti-capitalist.

Revolutionary socialists demand:

• Take the wealth off the super-rich
• Reverse the cuts to HM Revenue and Customs. Close tax loopholes and enforce collection of avoided taxes. Increase taxes on the super-rich and big business
• Nationalize the banks and the major corporations under democratic workers’ control and management – with compensation only on the basis of proven need
• Through public ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, democratic socialist planning of industry and services can be introduced to meet the needs of the majority. You can’t control what you don’t own: only socialist nationalization can end the great tax robbery!

20 years since 9/11

On 11 September 2021, twenty years have past since the terror attacks in New York and Washington DC. American imperialism used the attacks to start wars in the middle east and in Afghanistan. Now after 20 years we can conclude that the imperialist plans since 9/11 have all ended in major failures. Neither Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or Syria have become save and free societies, thanks to the intervention of the Americans and their puppets. Iraq is more closer to Iran and Afghanistan is back under Taliban rule. Libya had to endure two civil wars and Syria is ripped apart. 4.507 American soldiers died in Iraq between 2003 and 2017, in Afghanistan 2.420 soldiers were killed. 46.319 Afghan civilians died and in Iraq over 200.000 lost their lives due to George W. Bush and Tony Blair!

In total, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 costed around 412.000 deaths at a minimum. These people would have been alive had the USA not decided to attack Afghanistan and Iraq under George W. Bush. The Americans however wanted revenge for 9/11 and since Osama Bin Landen was in Afghanistan they blamed the Taliban. Many American soldiers were told that they were fighting in Afghanistan because of 9/11. Even the last soldiers of the USA in Afghanistan still believed that lie in 2021, that they fight because of the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington DC. The Pentagon drilled this lie into the minds of all American soldiers who were send to Afghanistan.

The Taliban had nothing to do with the attacks on 11 September 2001. They were willing to hand Bin Landen over if the Americans gave clear evidence, that he was the mastermind behind the attacks. In October 2001, there was no direct evidence to link Osama Bin Landen personally to the attacks. It was not until 2004, that he publicly said that he planned the operation on 9/11. Since the Americans in 2001 could not give the Taliban direct evidence, they denied the extradition of Osama Bin Laden. George W. Bush then decided to invade Afghanistan and to install a puppet government. That regime became the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ruled over by the corrupt president’s Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.

Al-Qaeda was hit hard after the removal of the Taliban, but they were never defeated. Although rivalled by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since 2014, the group of Osama Bin Landen is not death. By the time the Americans assassinated Bin Landen in Pakistan, the leadership of al-Qaeda was already weakened. Today the group is led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, but most operations are carried out by local al-Qaeda groups with little input from their central command. It is possible that Zawahiri is protected by the Taliban or Pakistan. If he is hiding in Pakistan then it is clear that both Osama Bin Landen and Ayman al-Zawahiri have been in a country that claims to be a friend of American imperialism.

On 11 September 2001, over 2,977 victims and 19 al-Qaeda terrorists died. George W. Bush used to attacks to start his War on Terror, which was only an excuse to intervene in the Islamic world. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the interventions in Libya and Syria, they did not serve the needs of the American working class nor the local populations. They served the needs of the capitalist class and the military industrial complex, which profited the most from all wars since 11 September 2001. In the end, American imperialism failed miserably. Afghanistan fell back into Taliban hands and the government of Iraq is much closer to Iran then the western world. Countries like Libya and Syria are destroyed by years of civil war.

NATO plays a huge role in destabilizing the middle east. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was one thing, but NATO also overthrew the Gaddafi regime and supported one Libyan government against another. In Syria, NATO member Turkey intervened by attacking the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria. Turkish imperialists occupy northern sections of Syria and use their puppets of the Syrian National Army to enforce its will on the Syrian people. All this is done under the eyes of NATO, which tolerates not only the occupation of lands that belong to the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria, but also the massive abuse of human rights inside NATO member Turkey against the Kurdish minority.

Most countries of the former Resolute Support Mission came from NATO. More then 1.000 none-American soldiers died to protect the corrupt Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani. After 20 years we can conclude that people like George W. Bush and Tony Blair are guilty of mass murder, imperialism, corruption and giving support to undemocratic regimes that only have a democratic façade. That is what the western world is guilty of, they already support 70% of all dictatorships on this planet. Their propaganda about democracy and human rights is a lie as western governments only care about one thing: Governments that support their capitalist world view. The USA and many of its allies do not care about democracy. They only care about serving the needs of that minority who get rich because of war!

American workers in New York and Washington DC will never forget the day when they were attacked. The reactionary terrorists of al-Qaeda choose to attack ordinary people for maximum terror. This is why extremists are the enemies of working class people. They can never see the whole picture and only think that by harming workers can they defeat/harm imperialism. Those 2.977 people working inside the Twin Towers and the Pentagon (or were flying for airliners) were not the owners nor controllers of American imperialism. Neither George W. Bush nor any major capitalist leader was harmed on that day.

On 11 September 2021, the USA remembers. At the same time it should also look back at leaders like George W. Bush and reject them for their crimes. Because let us not forget that 9/11 was the reason that over 400.000 people in Afghanistan and Iraq died. George W. Bush and Tony Blair and many minor leaders are responsible for that fact. In the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende was the prime minister responsible for supporting Bush and Blair. His right-wing cabinet not only supported the invasion of Afghanistan but also the invasion of Iraq. Balkenende will go down in history as the Dutch prime minster that caused the death of 25 Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan!

What can we conclude? That western imperialism failed, Russian and Chinese imperialism now look to take what the western world lost. China and Russia are in secret happy with the fall of the pro-western: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. They know that Afghanistan has a lot of natural resources. Now that the American puppet regime has been replaced with Taliban rule in Kabul, China and Russia see new opportunities. We say that all problems of societies like Afghanistan and the Arab world cannot be solved on the basis of capitalism. This is what working class people need to understand. Socialism is the only alternative out of misery, poverty, extremism and capitalist exploitation.

The final line on the War in Afghanistan

The International Security Assistance Force and Resolute Support Mission ended in a major failure!

De International Security Assistance Force en Resolute Support Mission eindigden in een grote mislukking!

Die International Security Assistance Force und Resolute Support Mission endete mit einem großen Misserfolg!

La Forza internazionale di assistenza alla sicurezza e la missione di supporto risoluto si sono concluse con un grave fallimento!

საერთაშორისო უსაფრთხოების დახმარების ძალები და მტკიცე მხარდაჭერის მისია დასრულდა დიდი მარცხით!

Forța internațională de asistență pentru securitate și misiunea de sprijin hotărât s-au încheiat cu un eșec major!

Uluslararası Güvenlik Yardım Gücü ve Kararlı Destek Misyonu büyük bir başarısızlıkla sonuçlandı!

Międzynarodowe Siły Wsparcia Bezpieczeństwa i Misja Resolute Support okazały się poważną porażką!

Международните сили за подпомагане на сигурността и решителната мисия за подкрепа приключиха с голям провал!

د نړیوال سوله ساتي ځواک او قاطع ملاتړ ماموریت په یوه لویه ناکامي پای ته ورسید!

IS terror attack in Taliban controlled Kabul

The Islamic State terror group has carried out a terrorist attack on the Kabul airport inside the restored Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Over 72 were killed and 200 wounded when two suicide bombings occurred near Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport. The bombs were set by Islamic State suicide terrorists, their goals was to create as much damage as possible as many still try to flee the newly established theocracy of the Taliban. Among the death are also 12 U.S soldiers who were guarding the airport since the Taliban overthrew the former U.S puppet regime on 15 August.

Islamic State – Khorasan Province is the name of IS terrorists working inside Afghanistan. They are not allies of the Taliban, who has denounced Islamic State in the middle east. The reasons for that are ethnic in origin, the Taliban are Pashtun with social and cultural norms known as Pashtunwali. Islamic State has build up supporters among ethnic Pakistani’s, Uzbek’s and Tadjik’s. The USA estimated that there are only 1.000 IS supporters in Afghanistan, Russia thinks this number is higher. We can assume that the terrorist group has around 3.000 supporters in the whole country.

Why is Islamic State able to win some supporters? The same reason the Taliban is winning supporters. Islamic State claims that they are followers of a pure Islam. Like the original students of Mohammed Omar who founded the Taliban in 1994, the IS group has recruited young Afghans in universities, especially among those who study Islamic Law (Sharia). Although the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan claimed to be based on Sharia, the reality was that state corruption and many western ways of life were at least tolerated by the previous regime, this is what both IS and the Taliban oppose.

From 15 August until 26 August, the nations that kept the former regime alive allowed Afghans to leave on their planes. The Taliban decided today on 26 August that no Afghan national could leave the country. None-Afghans are free to leave until 31 August. With the terrorist attacks against the airport and 72 people death, many will sink into fear and depression. The Taliban will know who they are and will come to their homes. Despite their promises of amnesty, we know that the far-right theocratic group has no moral high ground when it comes to promises. There is no Taliban 2.0!

Many will try to reach Kabul Airport and the Taliban might even open fire to stop them. The situation is critical inside the capital as now only foreigners can leave on planes. This final drama is the end game in a story that began when American imperialism decided to support Islamic resistance groups who fought the Soviets. Out of these groups came both the Taliban and the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Although the country was portrayed as ”democratic” and ”free”, it was neither. Afghanistan was ruled by a corrupt ruling class, paid for by American taxpayers since December 2001.

Was it all for nothing, veterans of the War in Afghanistan think? Yes, they fought and died for nothing. Like the Vietnam War veterans, they too will have to live with the reality that their comrades died to save a puppet regime. A regime that collapsed in just two months, following the withdrawn of the last 3.500 American troops. Joe Biden is suffering under a massive media assault, the capitalist media is attacking him non-stop. They blame him for the Fall of Kabul despite the fact that it was Donald Trump who organized the deal with the Taliban to remove American troops in 2021. Biden is losing approval rating because the media is blaming him for the human drama.

Revolutionary socialists do not blame Joe Biden. He did the right thing by removing American soldiers. His biggest failure was his trust in the puppet government that was set up by George W. Bush in 2001. Like Obama and Trump before him, Joe Biden trusted the corrupt Afghan government and the lie that their army could fight the Taliban independently of the Resolute Support Mission. That was not the case, Afghan soldiers ran from battle and surrendered in massive numbers. Why? Because of corruption and the fact that they were not paid for months. American taxpayers paid their salaries in theory, but in reality that money never reached those poor men.

130.000 foreign soldiers fought in the Afghan War between 2001 and 2021. 3.576 of them died in this needless war. Revolutionary socialists opposed the war back in 2001 and we always knew the Taliban could retake power. American imperialism told us this was impossible. The Afghan National Army was 180.000 strong on paper, in reality the Americans paid for many ghost soldiers, fake soldiers only put on paper to get more money. The level of corruption was very high inside the Afghan Armed Forces. Yet, western governments did not care. Because the Afghan military was a puppet, meant to be controlled by NATO.

Afghans can call Joe Biden a traitor, but in reality the traitors should be searched inside the Karzai/Ghani governments. These government were put up by imperialism, they were paid for by imperialism and they served imperialism. Hamid Karzai left office in 2014, but he was the first leader of the puppet regime. The Taliban might keep him around because he may play a role in a future government. Joe Biden did not betrayed the Afghans, he gave them billions and weapons. He believed what leaders like Ghani told him. The real traitors are the corrupt ruling class around Ghani who fled early on 15 August to save their own skin.

International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is clear about what happened and what is to be done in Afghanistan:

The imperialist intervention was a catastrophe. Taliban rule, if allowed to continue, will be a nightmare. By restricting the measures it took to modernize society, and the top-down undemocratic way in which they were implemented, the Soviet-backed Najibullah government failed to transform Afghan society. All the fundamental problems of society, impoverishment, the lack of democratic rights, national oppression, religious fundamentalism and social repression remain, and cannot be solved on the basis of capitalism.

What is needed is the building of a mass movement in opposition to the Taliban and imperialism, uniting the working class, poor farmers, women, youth in a struggle to establish a democratic workers and poor farmers government. This of course can only succeed if done as part of an international struggle involving the working class of other countries in the region that could open the way for creating a genuine, democratic and voluntary socialist federation in the region.

Kabul government surrenders to Taliban

The Kabul government of Ashraf Ghani will surrender to the forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, commonly known as the Taliban. Just more then a month after the last American forces left Afghanistan, the Taliban are about to re-establish their Islamic emirate. The last 600 Turkish and 300 British troops have been told to leave the country. Other nations are scramble planes to evacuate their embassies. This collapse reminds us of the situation in April 1975 in Saigon, the capital of the Republic of Vietnam. Like the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2021, the South Vietnamese government was a puppet of the USA. After the Americans left South Vietnam, the regime collapsed in just five months. The Ashraf Ghani regime surpassed that of of Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, it collapsed in just one month and 13 days.

Five days ago it was believed that Kabul would fall between 30 and 60 days. However the Taliban offensive was so fast nobody would think the Islamic group would be at the gates of the capital in just five days, after capturing 29 out of 34 regional capitals in one week. The reasons for their massive success is the unwillingness of the Afghan National Army to put up a meaningful resistance. Like the Afghan National Army of the Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, this Afghan Army was build up around foreign control and money. The former army of the ex-Stalinist regime relied on Soviet money to pay its commanders and soldiers. Afghan soldiers of the current army relied on American money.

Despite 2,5 trillion dollars spend, few Afghans ever saw American money. Soldiers were often not paid for months, their commanders did not know how to fight and many choose to abandon their troops. In 1992, the exact same thing happened. Generals like Abdul Rashid Dostum betrayed the Kabul government and switched sides to that of the Mujahideen. Now in 2021, it is clear that the 180.000 men of the Afghan National Army were unwilling to fight the highly motivated 85.000 Taliban forces. Major regional capitals started to fall to the Taliban in July and by 14 August major cities like Kandahar and Jalalabad were captured.

The corrupt capitalist elite of the Kabul regime will now flee the county. President Ashraf Ghani will step down, marking the end of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Revolutionary socialists will not mourn the collapse of this corrupt American puppet regime. We said back in 2001, that no government set up by a foreign force will be accepted. Indeed, the government never worked in the interests of Afghan workers and poor. It was a corrupt capitalist government that favoured big business and foreign capitalists over the majority of Afghans. To boost its Islamic character, the state banned any criticism of political Islam and by 2012, women were reduced to second class citizens.

For American imperialism and NATO, this is a huge defeat. Their creation has surrendered to an army of religious fundamentalists. An army with no modern weaponry and only a desire to see the Kabul government brought down. American imperialism failed in Iraq and now failed massively in Afghanistan. This is the legacy of George W. Bush, a Republic of Iraq more closer to Iran then the USA and Afghanistan back under control of the Taliban. It is clear that the Islamic fundamentalists have the momentum, but they will not be able to bring about a clear alternative out of the poverty and desperation of millions.

Meanwhile some Afghan army units have crossed into Iran with their Humvee’s. It is clear that the 180.000 men of the Afghan National Army have completely disintegrated. Few of them are still in Kabul, but the majority has either fled or surrendered. In a video on Twitter we see a column of Afghan army Humvee’s inside Iran with a Iranian person speaking. At the same time Taliban forces captured the luxurious villa of traitor Abdul Rashid Dostum. This ex-Stalinist general betrayed the Kabul government in 1992 and was asked to defend it in 2021. Like in 1992 he fled, while Taliban soldiers captured his mansion, uniforms and luxury items. Dostum clearly enriched himself as part of the rotten capitalist elite!

The Taliban ruled 2/3 of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001. Now they control 100% of the country for the first time. However a theocratic regime based on medieval laws will turn many against the Taliban. We call for the formation of a democratic workers and peasants army to combat the reactionaries and to build up a society free from capitalism, religious fundamentalism and corruption. Such a society can be build if only the working class takes the lead. Workers have the means and the numbers to overthrow any dictatorial regime. What most lack is the organisation and class consciousness. Afghanistan has no workers party, no party that can organize and lead a revolution.

There are some Maoist groups active, but they remained small and sectarian. Most members of the old People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (main Stalinist party until 1992) have all supported the Kabul government, first that of Hamid Karzai and later Ashraf Ghani. The Afghan workers movement will have to start from below in order to build up a alternative. As International Socialist Alternative explains:

What is needed is a mass movement based on opposition to the intervention of all imperialist forces, aiming to create a democratic workers and peasants government that explicitly champions the liberation of women. This could win a large section of Afghanistan’s growing urban population. Such a movement would need to unite with the working class of Pakistan and other neighbouring countries, pointing towards a socialist federation in the region, based on respecting the right of different nationalities to self-determination.

In the end, president Ashraf Ghani fled to Tajikistan. His Kabul government now completely dysfunctional and in a state of total collapse. The Taliban reject any transitional government and wish full power to be transferred to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is now the ruling government of Afghanistan since 15 August 2021. With the fleeing of Ashraf Ghani comes an end to the American puppet regime, installed after the Taliban were driven out of Kabul in December 2001. Western imperialism has suffered a huge defeat, the biggest defeat since the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam in April 1975.

Working class Afghans must forget the Ghani regime. They need to organize and start building the resistance to the Taliban. Only a united working class, democratically and none-sectarian can overthrow this fundamentalist emirate!

Downfall of a U.S puppet

History might repeat itself in Afghanistan. In April 1992, the regime of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) collapsed. This Stalinist (until 1990) party came to power in 1978 and was supported by the USSR until that country collapsed in December 1991. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was only able to survive that long because of Soviet material and military support. The Islamic resistance to the Stalinist regime triumphed in 1992, thanks to American money and weapons. American imperialism overthrew the PDPA regime and Afghanistan fell into civil war between the fundamentalist Taliban and those who opposed them. The USA invaded Afghanistan in 2001, creating the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and kept that regime alive. Now the Americans are gone and the Taliban is on the offensive.

American imperialism was silent when Islamic fighters captured Kabul in April 1992. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988, the USA had little interests in that country. Sure, they had supported the Islamic resistance (the Mujahideen), but with the USSR out of Afghanistan, the Americans knew that the Cold War was soon over. Islamic fundamentalists like Osama Bin Laden were not happy when Washington DC stopped the flow of money to them. Bin Laden not only wanted the Soviets out, he wanted the whole PDPA regime removed. By 1990, the Stalinist government had removed all references to Marxism-Leninism (Stalinism) and even proclaimed their regime to be Islamic. It was not enough as the Mujahideen closed in on Kabul in April 1992.

Mohammad Najibullah was the last president and leader of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. He became leader in 1986 and slowly removed all references to Marxism-Leninism, state-atheism and economic planning. Najibullah had been the boss of the feared State Intelligence Agency (KHAD – Khadamat-e Aetla’at-e Dawlati). Like many Stalinist secret polices, the KHAD was ruthless and responsible for the death of at least 20.000 Afghans between 1978 and 1996. Ironically, it survived the collapse of the PDPA and remained the security arm of the Islamic State of Afghanistan until the Taliban captured Kabul. Najibullah had surrendered political power in 1992 to the leaders of the Mujahideen who created the Islamic State of Afghanistan.

With the destruction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan came a political vacuum. Islamic fundamentalists like Mohammed Omar wanted a pure Islamic emirate with strict laws. Others like Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud reject this idea. Supporters of Mohammed Omar formed the Taliban (Students) and started to fight the other Islamic groups. By 1996, Taliban forces captured Kabul and murdered Mohammad Najibullah. Omar then founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with himself as Head of the Supreme Council. His opponents created the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. This group was given control of Afghanistan after the Americans removed the Taliban in 2001.

On 11 September 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked New York and killed 3.000 Americans in a single day. American imperialism was humiliated and wanted revenge. Osama Bin Landen had fought in Afghanistan and was said to hide there. The Taliban were willing to hand him over to the Americans, if the USA could provide with evidence that Bin Laden had organized the 911 attacks. George W. Bush refused to give clear evidence and ordered an invasion of the country. American imperialist forces invaded on 7 October 2001. With support from the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance (United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan), the Taliban were defeated. On 22 December 2001, the Afghan Interim Administration was formed with Hamid Karzai as its first leader.

On paper, Afghanistan was to be a democratic republic. However U.S imperialism never really cared about that. They needed a government that was stable and loyal. The Northern Alliance were exactly what the Americans needed, a organized group that would be pro-Washington. Hamid Kazai became the first president of the new Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. A democracy on paper, in reality a corrupt dictatorship that would use Islamic law to hinder the freedoms of those critical of the government. Women were also regarded as second class by the Karzai government. In 2012 he signed a reactionary law, that said women should not travel without a male guardian and should not mingle with strange men in places such as schools, markets and offices.

The Taliban were defeated in 2001, but not destroyed. In 2008 it was estimated that there were around 11.000 Taliban fighters active fighting the government. Although the Americans re-founded the Afghan National Army, it was soon clear that this army lacked the will to fight. Western soldiers would be needed to organize and lead them. In total over 130.000 soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force were active in Afghanistan. They were the real army of Hamid Kazai. On 24 December 2014, the Resolute Support Mission was founded to support and train the Afghan Army. 17.000 troops remained in the country while the others would be withdrawn.

With the removal of a large majority of ISAF forces in 2015, the Taliban were able to grow. By the time most foreign troops had left Afghanistan, the army of Mohammed Omar counted around 60.000 troops. Six years later this number had risen to 85.000 armed men willing to overthrow the Afghan government. Hamid Kazai was replaced as president by Ashraf Ghani. The new president was no improvement as his government relied on the 17.000 foreign troops to lead his Afghan National Army. To boost security, Ghani hired over 20.000 foreign mercenaries to do the work of policing and provide security.

Although the Afghan National Army has 180.000 active soldiers, they lack the will to fight, are often not paid and corruption is very high. In fact the whole army was build around foreign commanders. Afghans are sectarian and do not trust each other. A commander from one ethnic group is mistrusted by soldiers and other commanders from other groups. Afghanistan is home to Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Gujjar, Arab, Brahui, Qizilbash, Pamiri, Kyrgyz and Sadat. Pashtun and Tajik make up the majority with Hazara as the third largest ethnic group.

The Taliban have 85.000 soldiers and are paid good. While Afghan soldiers can be paid $160 a month, the average Taliban soldier is paid $400. Also a Taliban soldier is paid regularly unlike government soldiers. This results in low moral and unwillingness to fight. Also the Taliban soldiers fight with a clear political and religious ideology. They want to destroy the corruption and inequality created by the capitalist governments of Hamid Kazai and Ashraf Ghani. Afghan soldiers have nothing to fight for, their government is corrupt, they are not paid and their commanders have no idea how to act as commanders. We saw the same in South Vietnam after the Americans left that country in 1972.

In the summer of 2021, the Taliban started a major offensive. With the final U.S troops leaving the country, the fundamentalists know that their time has come. After 20 years of living as a guerrilla force, the army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has captured over 153 districts. With the last 3.500 Americans leaving, only 600 Turkish and 300 British troops of the Resolute Support Mission remain behind. Bagram Air Base was abandoned with the Afghans totally surprised when they were told that the last American had left. The Afghan National Army could not even start the power back on, proofing how little communication there was between them and the departing Americans.

Bagram Air Base was the largest American base in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. When the Americans left they abandoned most of their vehicles. After locals Afghans realized that the base was abandoned, they quickly entered to loot what was left. The Afghan National Army was not told when the last American plane would depart. They were shocked and it took them several hours to secure the base. 20 years of American relics remain behind. 2.420 U.S soldiers died fighting to save a corrupt undemocratic Afghan government, rejected by a clear majority of the population. A government that would not have survived win-out the billions coming from the American tax payer.

Died to protect the U.S puppet regime were also 456 British, 159 Canadians, 89 French, 57 Germans and 321 others. These men and women were killed not to protect Afghan democracy. They died because their capitalist governments ordered them to defend a corrupt puppet regime of the United States of America. A regime now about to be destroyed, overrun by the very group U.S imperialism believed they had defeated in December 2001. The government of Ashraf Ghani already has lost 70% of the country. By 10 August 2021 the Taliban captured eight provincial capitals including Pul-e-Khumri and Kunduz, a city with 374.746 residents.

It is clear now that the Taliban are winning and they know it. With the fall of Kunduz and other important provincial capitals the question is not if Kabul falls, but when. The regular Afghan army is not able to fight off the 85.000 highly motivated Taliban soldiers. Afghan commando’s were the only one capable, but they have been depleted and many fled to Pakistan. When commanders realize that the game is up, many will desert, flee or join the Taliban. Army commanders of the former PDPA regime did the same in 1992. They simply abandoned the Kabul government of Mohammad Najibullah. It is very possible that the Afghan National Army will collapse in months.

Revolutionary socialists reject the cruel Taliban and the corrupt government in Kabul. We call on Afghan workers to unite against both factions and local war lords. The capitalist regime of Ashraf Ghani is not the lesser of two evils. The evil here is both capitalism and Islamism. The Taliban use anti-imperialist rhetoric to rally poor Afghans against Ashraf Ghani. We know however that their goals are not social justice, they want a reactionary society build on religious totalitarianism. The PDPA regime failed to provide a socialist alternative and with their dictatorial methods pushed millions into the hands of the Taliban/Ashraf Ghani predecessor.

Our alternatives are clear. Workers need to build committees of their own to take power. These committees/councils can lay the base for a socialist democracy. A revolutionary workers party is needed to rally the working class and to provide a socialist alternative. Stalinism failed, capitalism too. We also know that Islamism will not save the millions from poverty. Afghanistan can only move forward is there is a movement that is willing to brake with the capitalist system. International Socialist Alternative is trying to build such a movement around the planet.

Update: On 11 August, the forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan captured another regional capital. In just ten days over nine capitals have fallen to the Islamic fundamentalists. Now even the American Pentagon has declared that they assume, the government of Ashraf Ghani can fall in just 30 days, if the offensive of the Taliban does not stop. By now the Afghan National Army has retreated from the north of the country and only holds the centre around the main capital of Kabul. The downfall of a U.S puppet is at hand!