The intelligence assessment was about the security situation. The British military chief has said that everyone was mistaken about how fast the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan. The Taliban was actually buying off those who could have fought against them. Intelligence committee within the Cabinet Office, which pulls together multi-agency. Is the Taliban government expected to be announced in the coming days?
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The UK time news stated that General Sir Nick Carter said “We were surprised by the pace of it and did not realize what the Taliban were planning. “In response to a question about whether military intelligence was incorrect, he said the government received information from multiple sources.
According to him, it isn’t purely about military intelligence. After 20 years of military conflict, the last British and US soldiers left Afghanistan last week. It has been questioned how the Taliban was able to seize control of the country at such speed after the West withdrew from Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs the intelligence assessment was that the security situation would deteriorate steadily throughout August – but Kabul would not fall this year.
Mid-August saw Kabul’s fall.
Gen Sir Nick was asked on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday why the predictions had been incorrect. The UK Time reports that It’s straightforward: everyone got it wrong, he said.
As quickly as things changed, even the Taliban weren’t expecting it. As the Taliban gained control over cities, they didn’t actually fight for them, they negotiated for them. And I suspect a lot of money changed hands as they eventually bought off opponents.
As it turns out, we didn’t realize the Taliban was actually buying off those who could have fought against them. They weren’t really fighting for the cities they eventually captured, they were negotiating for them.
The UK time stated that “Nobody anticipated how fragile the Afghan government was and how fragile the command of its armed forces would be,” said the chief of defense staff. In response to a question about whether military intelligence was incorrect, Gen Sir Nick replied: “No… many of the assessments suggested it would not last, and that has proven to be true.”
As far as military intelligence goes, it is a much broader concept than just that. ‘The way it works in this country is that we have an intelligence committee within the Cabinet Office, which pulls together multi-agency intelligence, the secret intelligence services and broad open sources.”
A Taliban government is expected to be announced in the coming days, which means that foreign powers will need to adjust to the possibility of being dealing with a Taliban administration.
Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, which the Taliban does not yet control, is currently under attack by Taliban soldiers. On Saturday, the top US general warned there was a high risk of civil war in Afghanistan, which could lead to terrorism resurgent in the region.
In a recent Fox News interview, Gen Mark Milley said: “There’s every possibility of seeing a resurgence of terrorism in that region within the next 12, 24, 36 months.” A functioning government in Afghanistan will determine whether terrorism is risked or not, general Sir Nick told BBC.
There was no way to predict how the Taliban will govern right now – but there was a possibility in the group would be less repressive than it had been in the past.
The UK time news states Seeing the situation on the surface, it doesn’t seem very positive at the moment. However, we should wait and see if anything changes. Furthermore, I don’t think [they] are too stupid to understand that Afghanistan’s people have changed and now want a slightly different sort of governance.”
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In his opinion, the international community should encourage the Taliban to change their method of governance since they are “trying to find their feet. “The UK time reports we will need some help running a modern state effectively, ” he said. I thought maybe they would get some help if they behaved.”
Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said there is a good chance the present situation in Afghanistan could make Britain less safe. The UK government should collaborate with other countries – not just its allies – to help demand rights for women and girls in Afghanistan by taking a common stance against the Taliban.
