EDITORIAL - Resurgence of terror

There is a development that a lot of us might be unaware of, for the reason that it doesn’t directly concern or involve us.

By September 11 of this year, which also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York, the NATO troops serving as security forces in Afghanistan expect to fully pull out of that war-torn country.

This even as the Taliban -- the political/religious/militant faction that used to rule that country -- are winning more and more ground in their ongoing war against their own countrymen. Even the Taliban are saying they are surprised at how fast they are advancing to regain territory.

The Taliban might be in peace talks with NATO forces now. Their spokesman Suhail Shaheen even said that taking Kabul militarily was “not Taliban policy.” But can we really expect them to do nothing after the foreign forces leave? In all likelihood, the Taliban will want to regain their lost glory -- as well as their lost territory.

There are others who will say “why should this matter to us?” or “this is of no importance to us.” They are right. Afghanistan’s issues are definitely not ours, plus we don’t have a substantial Overseas Filipino Worker presence in that country to have a cause for concern.

We even agree that the foreign security forces have been there too long. And that it is now up to the people in Afghanistan to deal with their own problem themselves.

It is just worth mentioning that if the Taliban takes over Afghanistan again, we can be sure they will return it to the barbaric state it once was under their rule. That means regular public executions, the oppression of women, the continued promotion of hate of anything considered “western” and “anti-Islamic”.

It will be the rule of men who use their twisted interpretation of religion and politics to serve their own ends.

We can also assume the Taliban will be more than willing to sponsor terror groups within its borders again, like it did with Al-Qaeda before. What’s to stop in from doing that, or even setting up their own network?

If a terror group is given enough time and territory, it can grow big enough to destabilize a region. In this case, it is one that just happens to produce one of the most important commodities in the world.

And in a world already dealing with climate change and a pandemic that has gone on too long already, a new terror threat in one of the most volatile regions in the world is another issue we cannot afford to deal with.