I’ve been reading The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan (Hurst) by Ahmad Shuja Jamal and William Maley and have found the book super interesting. I am certain that this book will be an important primary resource for future generations as to what happened on the 15th of August 2021.
However, I think there’s a bit more to the book than that, it also is myth shattering. There is a tendency to compare the fall of Kabul with the fall of Saigon. Namely, that the Kabul government was a puppet government propped up by the US imperium as in Vietnam, and the Taliban victory was inevitable. But I think it’s a bit more complicated than that, it seems like an argument that supports the emotional needs of Westerners, some Afghan diaspora and indeed some of the Muslim diaspora. Each one, using the story to reinforce their own world view.
This pod gives us an insider’s perspective of what happened to Ashraf Ghani’s government and the country.
The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan