AFGHANISTAN WAR. TALIBAN, AL QAEDA AND ISIS: A BRIEF UPDATE.

The following is a short description of the various militant groups and my take on the matter from my personal experiences. It has no basis other than my opinion from direct interaction and observations.

Afghanistan is a land locked country and by usual western standards, one of the most backward and underdeveloped countries in the world. It's history has mostly been of tribal existence. Afghanis are an ethnic based group of people generally called Pashtuns, who form tribes and have existed as small groups within the country. Each tribe has its own laws and justice system, usually administered by the elders, a body also known as a Jarga. The usual basis for the delivery of laws have been social norms and fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic laws.
The Pashtuns do not see their way of life as backwards but simply a way of life they want and have been happy with for thousands of years. An example easier to understand may be an Indian tribe living the way they always did proud of preserving their heritage.
The tribes have lived in harmony and disharmony with each other for generations with cooperation as well as deadly feuds amongst themselves. And extension of this culture is also found in the north western frontier province of Pakistan in areas known as FATA areas. This stands for federally administered tribal areas. Despite the name there is hardly any role of a federal administration.
There has been little interest amongst the tribes for any growth of society, culture or economics when taken in terms of western civilizations. In fact there is open despise of such ideas. The ultimate concern is that of survival and propagation of the tribe and its lands.
December 1979 changed the country who most people never heard of to a household name when it was invaded by Russia. The war lasted 10 years and American involvement is well known.
Two groups rose out of this invasion. The Taliban were the locals, primarily trained in Islamic schools called madrasa. The other group was Al Qaeada made up of fighters from countries outside Afghanistan. Taliban hosted Al Qaeda.
In the 1990s Taliban ruled over most of Afghanistan and crushed the local tribal warlords. Due to their way of ruling and support for Al Qaeda, American and NATO forces invaded the country. 9 /11 had occurred. The situation became extremely complex with loosely banded groups and fluid alliances. Al Qaeda was defeated and became non existent in all practical terms but other forces such as ISIS emerged. Taliban could not be defeated and after years of war, it controls nearly 40% of Afghanistan with American backed Afghan govt of Karzai controlling 60% of the country. These are fluctuating numbers as land is lost or won on a daily basis.

TALIBAN

This is Taliban. They are a ferocious fighting force, battle hardened, with generations knowing only war. It is their way of life. They are survivalists living in situations that shame any survival TV show, on a daily basis. They are spread throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some official sites report 15-25 thousand fighters. The actual numbers are way above 1/2 a million.
You can find more than 20 thousand loyalists in any any major city in Pakistan.

A 2015 headline from Pakistan : Shahbaz wanted to cut deal with TTP as long they didn't conduct operations in Punjab:
This occurred from 2010 onwards. Taliban was offered safe havens in Pakistan in response to Taliban attacks, as long as the Taliban refrained from attacks within certain regions of Pakistan. Taliban flourished and does so to this day. Pakistan military and the government supported Taliban and actually recognized the Taliban government along with Saudia Arabia and UAE also recognizing Taliban government. Although recently Pakistan military speaks of not supporting Taliban, the situation is extremely complex. Obvious funding to Taliban can be seen in Madrasas. Taliban is also used as a weapon against India with legitimate fears of India funding them and using them against Pakistan and Afghanistan, if other forces stopped supporting Taliban. This unaccounted economy is north of hundreds of billions of dollars. Here is a Madrasa.

These Taliban folks are actually quite friendly in person. They hold themselves up to certain standards. They are willing to lay down their lives for their cause and are a formidable force that neither Russia or America could defeat and Pakistan forces will be decimated if they started a war with Taliban. Taliban has a lot of influence within the Pakistan army as Pakistan army to a great extent is made up of the same ethnic group as Taliban.
Taliban tried to abolish opium growing fields in Afghanistan and soon backed off with failure of other crops. Poppy fields thrive in Afghanistan and are a big part of of a non existent economy.
The situation is that of a stalemate in the region but over time it has seen Taliban gain ground. The west got it all wrong in analyzing the hardiness of this group and dealt with them with war. Taliban is better experts at war than most. Read the history of Afghanistan if you have a hard time believing it. You either wipe out the ethnic group or you don't win a war against them. If dealt properly, by now we might have seen many improvements. It should have been alowed to develop and foster from the inside rather than with outside forces that only made Taliban stronger. Yes there are still ways to improve the situation. Many many ways. It should be done for the safety of Afghan people. I cannot go into policies and tactics that are employable due to brevity of this post. I will say only this that there is nothing in this world that cannot be solved by two parties sitting across from each other at a discussion table.

I see Taliban without any ambitions of world dominance. They simply want Afghanistan and a way of life that is their own. Matters can be influenced over time to improve the situation if the rule is too radical. Honestly the rule has always been what the westerners may find abhorrent. War won't change that. It will fuel the fire. The people of that land should be allowed to go through reformations as they see fit.

ISIS
On the other hand , ISIS came into being with the advent of wars in the Middle East. The group comprises of mostly well educated members who have Geopolitical ambitions. They wish to overthrow governments and claim countries. Islam here is a means to an end and nothing more. It is a brutal group but very very different from Taliban. There is no single ethnicity or country of origin. They are spread in small numbers throughout the world. The ideology is Geopolitical and thus defeatable. ISIS is being fought by the local populations and so far with success. When you invade a country and dismantle its security forces, you create ISIS. ISIS is a symptom of times. Such groups were seen in Yugoslavia and other places. If Middle East is allowed to stabilize, ISIS will go away.
Unfortunately stability of Middle East may not be the driving concern of those who destabilized it. We shall have to wait and see.

I cannot see a John Lennon world view take place anytime soon. I am certainly a big fan. Still I hope for the world to be a better place than the way it now is. Too many lives have been lost, too many wars have been waged. Too much tragedy has beset the world.
I only have hope as all men and women before me have had. It is what makes the world go round. Can world leaders collude to make this world a better place ?

Thoughts, opinions, corrections, ideas and criticism are all welcome.
All pics are courtesy of google images. I did take my own pictures but was stopped by Taliban and they requested that I stop taking pictures. I deleted them of my own volition out of the respectful request made by Taliban. It was an order but the initial communication was in the form of a non violent request. I appreciate the chance given when odds were not in my favor.