Don’t repeat the past in Afghanistan

Shortly after US President Barack Obama left Afghanistan Wednesday, 7 people were killed in an attack claimed by the Taliban. This follows coordinated attacks two weeks ago that seem to warn Afghans to join the Taliban or be on the losing side, especially after more than 20,000 US troops begin to pull out in September. Obama highlighted the importance of this nation in the global war on terror by flying there on the 1 year anniversary of covert operations which killed Osama bin Laden. Obama said US counterterrorism operations would continue for at least a decade after the 2014 pullout of US troops. Critics say this isn’t enough and warn Afghanistan may spiral into the same conditions which gave birth to al-Qaeda: in 1989 after the Soviet-Afghan war, the Soviets and US pulled out hastily, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by bin Laden. 11 years after 9/11, al-Qaeda has morphed from a group of thousands to a social movement which is now focused on regional conflicts.

Read more about Afghanistan’s role, Wednesday deaths and al-Qaeda’s latest moves – all on Rappler.