Analysis: Islamic State Attack Signals West’s Least Bad Option For Afghanistan – The Taliban
FILE PHOTO: A screen grab shows people carrying an injured person to a hospital after an attack at Kabul airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan August 26, 2021. REUTERS TV/1TV/Handout via REUTERS The deadly attack on Kabul airport has underlined the realpolitik facing Western powers in Afghanistan: engaging with the Taliban may be their best chance to prevent the country sliding into a breeding ground for Islamist militancy. Almost two weeks after the Taliban’s surprise return to power, officials in Europe are beginning to acknowledge that their pragmatic option is to put aside distaste for the country’s new leaders and work with them instead. “It is clear: the Taliban are reality in Afghanistan now,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week. “This new reality is bitter, but we have to work with it.” A senior European Union official said it is not enough for G7 powers to take the moral high ground and adopt an aggressive stance towards the Taliban, not least because that would hand China