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Afghanistan Bomb Attack Targets Schoolgirls Killing 25: What’s Going On?

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27 comments on Afghanistan Bomb Attack Targets Schoolgirls Killing 25: What’s Going On?

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Schoolgirls Targeted

An Afghanistan Bomb Attack Targeting Schoolgirls Kills at Least 25 People

Militants killed at least 25 people in three explosions targeting girls outside a school in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Kabul, officials said, an attack that could exacerbate sectarian tensions ahead of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The blasts hit the Sayeda Shuhada school in the Dasht-e Barchi area of west Kabul, an area populated largely by the Shiite Hazara community. The area has suffered a string of deadly attacks in recent months.

A Taliban spokesman tweeted to condemn Saturday’s attack, accusing Islamic State of being behind it. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, however, blamed the Taliban. In a statement condemning the bombings, he said that “the Taliban, by intensifying their illegitimate war and violence, showed that they have no interest in a peaceful solution to the current crisis.”

What’s Going On?

President Biden has pledged to remove US troops by September 11.

Many in the US disagree with the withdrawal. They will of course point to this episode as proof the Taliban will take over the country as soon as the US leaves. 

Questions Abound

Why would the Taliban attack ahead of the US leaving? 

Crazy people do crazy things is one possible answer. The other possible answer is some groups in Afghanistan will do anything to keep US troops in the country.

Recall that Obama pledged to leave Afghanistan and violence immediately stepped up. 

Instead of leaving, Obama sent in more troops and the US warmongers were pleased.

Competing Claims

  1. A Taliban spokesman tweeted to condemn Saturday’s attack, accusing Islamic State of being behind it. 
  2. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, blamed the Taliban. Ghani said “the Taliban, by intensifying their illegitimate war and violence, showed that they have no interest in a peaceful solution to the current crisis.”

False Flag Analysis

While it may be true that the Taliban have no interest in a peaceful solution, they have no reason to want US troops to stay in the country defending Ghani. And escalating violence increases the odds that us troops don’t leave.

Every time a US president announces intent to leave Afghanistan violence picks up. 

It happened under Obama, Trump, and now Biden. 

Someone wants the US to stay in Afghanistan.

Is the the Taliban, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, those loyal to Ghani, or simply the Shiite minority?

One of those options makes the least sense, the first one.

War Cannot Be Won

As with the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan cannot be won. The US should not have been there in the first place and we should not be there now.

Yes, the Taliban will likely overrun Kabul just as the Viet Cong steamrolled Saigon. But neither was our legitimate  battle. 

The US cannot be the world’s policeman. Biden should stick to his plan and leave.

Mish

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Mike Shedlock

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27 Comments
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Jackula
Jackula
5 years ago
The bombing smells of a move by one of our alphabet agencies as directed by our arms industry. [false flag] Or perhaps one of our enemies trying to keep us tied up there.
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Doug78
Doug78
5 years ago
I wonder who really cares about Afghanistan anymore? It is not strategic and hasn’t been ever since a sea route to China was figured out. We went in there to get a certain terrorist and that terrorist is dead now. We should have been out a long time ago because it doesn’t make sense. Obama wanted out. Trump wanted out but both were stymied by vested interests that transcend political parties. Biden will find reasons, probably citing humanitarian ones to stay. Putting off the withdraw date was a good way to turn the war “hot” again. A bombing is a good way of justifying staying to keep the “barbarians at bay”. We should see some large attacks on American forces soon so Biden will have to say no to a Saigon type withdraw. Interlocking interests will keep us there forever it seems.
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Frederick 1954
Frederick 1954
5 years ago
Reply to  Doug78
If you believe that nonsense you aren’t too bright son 
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Casual_Observer
Casual_Observer
5 years ago
The problem with not fostering democracies is eventually the problems come to your shores. This is why there are hoards of immigrants seeking to come here. Afghanistan is ripe for takeover by Putin after the US leaves. He has no qualms about killing people or any intention other than expanding Russia borders .
China is negotiating with west African countries for submarines bases on the Atlantic shores. It wont be but a few more decades or less until those show up on our shores. 
Say what you want but you may one day be ruled by Russia from one shore and China from the other. 
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Webej
Webej
5 years ago
Reply to  Casual_Observer
There is no chance the Russians would invade — uninformed speculation based on your knowledge of Putin’s mind???
The Chinese on the other hand will probably not go as far as military intervention, but will be pulling as many strings as they can. The Pakistani and the Persians will also exercise influence. Don’t forget there are a lot of ethnic Uzbeks and Tajikis in the north as well as Persians in the East, easily pulled by their ethnicity and language to foreign influence. 
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Doug78
Doug78
5 years ago
Reply to  Casual_Observer
Russia’s rather mediocre and China is better but their principle claim to power is that they have a lot of people. Neither one is ten foot tall and covered with hair. They now share a toothbrush which makes them look stronger on paper. Now that we know that they are more than just adversaries so their stealth strategy is harder for them to manange. 
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threeblindmice
threeblindmice
5 years ago
Reply to  Casual_Observer
It’s impossible to foster democracies in places where too few citizens want it enough.  Afghanistan may well devolve into a geography (I don’t say nation) of warring tribal warlords, or into a Taliban state.  That would be a horrible tragedy.  But it’s a pipe dream that we can create democracies out of thin air.  It’s been 20 years of blood and treasure trying and failing.  Time to cut losses.  When and if Russia and China become aggressors, we’ll be in better shape to respond.
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Frederick 1954
Frederick 1954
5 years ago
Reply to  Casual_Observer
Didn’t Russia try that before and fail? Why would they make the same mistake twice? I think you’re wrong 
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Maximus_Minimus
Maximus_Minimus
5 years ago
The Taliban have the only explanation that makes sense. There are plenty of parties who want the US to stay or fear the Taliban’s return, and not just the sitting government.
Pakistan will loose the leverage it enjoyed as a sole transit route for supplies.
Russia and China are on the side of the neocons. They can’t possible wish a chaos there, and want US to bleed there as a bonus.
This might look like a cut and run, in the end.
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njbr
njbr
5 years ago
I know it doesn’t fit into your “US warmonger/false flag” conspiracy theory but…
There are long-standing issues and a history violent confrontation between the Sunni majority and Shiite minority in Afghanistan
IS (Islamic State) is alive and well in Afghanistan
IS is a Sunni group that is a Taliban “frenemy” now competing with the Taliban for control in post-US Afghanistan
The Taliban is trying to work toward a more shared power between Sunni and Shiite
IS is trying to play to the tensions and gain the upper hand with the Sunni majority by attacking Shiites
This is the future of Afghanistan–it will not be peaceful.
Close you eyes and ears and pretend.
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Webej
Webej
5 years ago
Reply to  njbr
The Hazaras are a distinct ethnic group with a long history of oppression in Afghanistan. Many Afghan refugees have escaped by way of Iran to Europe, and they are disproportionately Hazara. They gravitate politically to the opposite side of the spectrum from the Pashtun Talibani and have been seriously discriminated since the Taliban came to power.
Sunni and Shia would have long ago been assorted in different countries over the ages if they were by definition at each others’ throats.
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Call_Me
Call_Me
5 years ago
Reply to  njbr
Who is thinking that the near-term future will be peaceful?
Various factions have been supplied and propped up by outside entities.  The foreign involvement of the past ~20 years are just can-kicking and haven’t fixed any issues, aside from arming folks to the teeth, but eventually the situation will settle out.  People generally want to live a peaceful life, but getting to that status isn’t always pleasant.
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mrchinup
mrchinup
5 years ago
We should get out of there, let the animals kill each other and stop importing them we have enough problems.
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Webej
Webej
5 years ago
Cui bono? Why school girls?
The US has been touting school girls the last 10 years as a reason to stay.
Who wants the US to stay?
The CIA, elements in the US military, Jihadi elements supported by CIA money, drug runners using CIA money and military infrastructure, and perhaps the Ghani regime propped up by US support. The Taliban want the US out and prefers killing Americans to Afghans. Think of some covertly false flag intersection of the interests mentioned.
Every time a US president announces intent to leave Afghanistan violence picks up. 
The pattern suggests the direction to look in.
Don’t count on any real evidence surfacing to confirm who it was.
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FromBrussels
FromBrussels
5 years ago
…IS, Al Nusra and other terrorists don t want their  american sponsors to go….
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Maximus_Minimus
Maximus_Minimus
5 years ago
Reply to  FromBrussels
That’s very cynical of you. My bet is on Eurocraps; the flow of Afghan migrants must have tapered off lately, so they need to stimulate it.
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Mish
Mish
5 years ago
@ben “There’s a world of difference between going in in the first place and leaving once you are there. Don’t mix the two.”
Under that absurd logic we would still be in Vietnam.
It’s idiocy.
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Tengen
Tengen
5 years ago
It’s telling that the Taliban denounced the attack and blamed ISIS. They have claimed responsibility many times in the past, so a denial is meaningful.
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Frederick 1954
Frederick 1954
5 years ago
Reply to  Tengen
True dat 
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njbr
njbr
5 years ago
And, the most likely cause–an even longer-running dispute–a Shiite school in a majority Sunni country.
Where the other branch is regarded as even more vile and worthy of death than the foreign invaders.
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Webej
Webej
5 years ago
Reply to  njbr
Sunni and Shia communities have lived adjacent to each other all through the Middle East quilt of ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities. Many of these communities have survived 2000 years or more, right up to our own benighted humanitarian interventions. The last war between Shia and Sunni was in 681 in Karbala. It is all too easy to blame these religious differences for just about everything.
Was Afghanistan ridden with Islamic strife before all the interventions of the great powers in the seventies and later?
Was it a standard feature of the last centuries of Aghan social life?
The foreign invaders are a much bigger problem than “the other branch”, no matter what the easy propaganda cues might indicate.
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njbr
njbr
5 years ago
Reply to  Webej
Geez, I have had discussions with both Shia and Sunni that I know who have recently come to the US.  The last discussion I had with a Sunni woman was that Shiite were not Muslim and were deserving of death due to their apostasy.  Have you heard of one of the most widely known attack..the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra?
If you want more than anecdote….
Sectarian War Is Looming Over Afghanistan–The Taliban and Islamic State join forces to target Shiites in Afghanistan.
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davebarnes2
davebarnes2
5 years ago
And, we should take in 10s of thousands of Afghani refugees.
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njbr
njbr
5 years ago
No conspiracy required.
When your opponent of 2 decades promises violence, why shouldn’t you believe them?  Whatever you think, they hate the western ways of the invaders, especially with respect to their women….
…Hours after news broke on Tuesday that following a “rigorous policy review,” President Joe Biden is planning to have all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11—a break away from the previously agreed May 1 deadline—Taliban military leaders sat down for a policy review of their own. The group then announced it would be boycotting peace talks unless “all foreign forces completely withdraw from our homeland.”

Speaking to The Daily Beast on Wednesday, Mullah Salih Khan, a Taliban group commander from Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, said that the insurgent group is “very much prepared to strike,” against U.S. and Afghan government forces, warning that the militants will turn Afghanistan “into a nightmare” for them.

Mullah Mujahid Rahman, a Taliban subcommander from the Ghazni province, added that the U.S. has “proven they can’t be trusted after retreating from the May 1 deadline,” and that the group is willing to “fight till the end” of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

“We have the pride of defeating about 100,000 invaders from [different] countries in Afghanistan. A few thousand won’t be a problem at all,” he said, referring to the 3,500 American troops still stationed in the country…

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Webej
Webej
5 years ago
Reply to  njbr
An obvious conspiracy to keep the US there.
Their proposal was to target US military personnel. It requires actual evidence to claim that they would target their own women, or women in a minority ethnic group, as a proxy for targeting US military personnel, especially since the US has used school-girls as the ostensible reason to be there. It’s like Assad pulling out the gas when he has the upper hand, just to get the US involved. Makes no sense.
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RonJ
RonJ
5 years ago
The U.S. government runs an empire, not a police academy. The U.S. started as 13 states. There was early on, the idea of Manifest Destiny, that the U.S. would extend from sea to shining sea. Things grew from there into what exists today. Bases and outposts in over 100 countries around the world. The sun never sets on the U.S. Empire, just as it once never set on the British Empire. 
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Ben
Ben
5 years ago
There’s a world of difference between going in in the first place and leaving once you are there. Don’t mix the two.
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