Thread by @l78lancer

The women of Afghanistan don't need the Taliban, but the people of Afghanistan, including the Taliban need Afghanistan's women. Maybe this view is contrary to the conventional view for some here in the US, but maybe it's time for the conventional to change?

For an entire generation while the Taliban was chasing across the country trading hostilities with the US, the women of the nation were developing knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience in a multitude of things and areas.

Not only did women participate in national governance and administration, they helped develop commerce, run businesses including a variety of media, were involved in provincial administration affairs, participated in local government, and in the judiciary,

The Afghani women were making it happen.

By doing so, Afghanistan became more than a landlocked place on a map with vassals and warlords. It became a nation, however imperfect the national government functioned as an entity, and despite the corruption.

The Taliban have none of that capability now, They have no capacity to acquire it themselves any time in the near future, and they will need that same human infrastructure to function as a nation. Many of the women have it, and can bring it to bear almost immediately.

The Taliban is the dog who has chased the car for decades. They've now caught it and must figure out what to do with it.

Prior to the US's arrival Afghanistan was never a democracy. It may never be a democracy. Perhaps it doesn't need to be. While it may be our preference, that was never our call to make. But what it will need is every bit of talent it has to stand up in whatever form it decides.

Whether they want it or not, the women will be the backbone enabling that. So if the Taliban were smart - at least smarter than the republicans here in the US - they would protect women as a priceless resource, and not just vessels for forced marriages, sex and breeding.

They'd find away to put women in the places where they can be most effective, productive, and thrive to maximize their capabilities and contributions.

That includes continued education for girls who would be able to assume important roles in society that will make the nation stronger in the future. As the women and children thrive, so will the nation.

And, that will enable the Taliban to then pursue ISIS-K, al-Qaeda, and any other disruptive, malign forces that threaten the internal security of the nation. Then they will have truly won the war that drove away the outsiders and the imperialists.

We've been at war for a generation but I harbor no ill will toward them. We've both lost and sacrificed a lot - too much, now it's time to turn a corner. We may never be allies, but I'm pulling for Afghanistan. Most of all, I'm mostly pulling for the women and the children.

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