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Bill Roggio Profile picture
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9 Sep, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Al Qaeda "may attempt to regenerate" in Afghanistan.
For 11 years, senior US officials have made a version this absurd claim. Al Qaeda never left, and remains embedded with the Taliban.
timesofisrael.com/pentagon-chief…
Look at the list of the "new" Taliban leadership. It is the old crew. Many have deep, longstanding ties to Al Qaeda. This relationship, which was re-forged in 20 years of war against the U.S., is stronger than ever.
longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/…
Look no further than Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new Interior Minister, which is arguably the most powerful position in the Taliban government. His ties to A Qaeda run deep. The UN called him an "Al Qaeda leader." He isn't the only one, just the easiest one to spot.
In 2011, I wrote an article titled "Al Qaeda never left Kunar, and other problems with US intel". The same problems exist. This is is one of the many, many reasons why the U.S. lost Afghanistan.

longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/…
When the prime policy objective for Afghanistan for 3 successive presidents is to leave, the bureaucracy gets the message & crafts their messages to support leaving. This is how you get silly narratives like Al Qaeda is "gone," "decimated," "degraded," defeated" & "diminished."

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More from @billroggio

Bill Roggio Profile picture
16 Sep
1) @US4AfghanPeace Zalmay Khalilzad’s explanation of what happened in the final days of the fall of Kabul is a jumbled mess. He is spinning to make himself look good but it fails. If you take his narrative at face value, he essentially green lighted the Taliban to enter the city.
2) @thomasjoseclyn notes that the idea that the Taliban was going to negotiate after it surrounded Kabul is absurd. He is of course right. foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/15/zal…
3) @husainhaqqani also nails it. Negotiations at this point were gaslighting. Zal was a fool if he believed there was anything left to negotiate.
Read 8 tweets
Bill Roggio Profile picture
16 Sep
1) The breathless so-called “reporting & analysis” on this issue is laughable. Baradar shows up on TV, denies the infighting & now @Charles_Lister is “unconvinced” that there wasn’t a fight after first tweeting Baradar was missing. Stick with Syria, quit sensationalizing rumors.
@Charles_Lister 2) I say this for a reason. These type of of rumors are more than common, and nearly always turn out to be wrong. I've studied the Afghan & Pakistani Taliban for years, and can recall numerous instances of bogus reports of infighting.
@Charles_Lister 3) Here's one, from 2015, when rumors were floated that Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, then the Taliban's emir (later killed by the US in a drone strike in Pakistan), was killed during a meeting with his commanders. Mansour obviously denied it. longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/…
Read 6 tweets
Bill Roggio Profile picture
15 Sep
1) Mullah Sangeen Zadran epitomized the Taliban-Al Qaeda relationship. Called Al Qaeda his "brothers". Designated by US for ties to Al Qaeda. A Haqqani Network leader, the Taliban's shadow governor & military leader of Paktika up until the U.S. killed him in 2013.
2) In 2009, Sangeen openly admitted that the bond between the “brothers” of Al Qaeda and the Taliban were unbreakable. In a As Sahab interview, Sangeen said: “We do not see any difference between Taliban and Al Qaeda,” and the two groups “are all one and are united by Islam.”
Sangeen in 2009: "Sheikh Usama [bin Laden] has pledged allegiance to Amir Al-Mumineen [Leader of the Faithful Mulla Muhammad Umar] and has reassured his leadership again and again. There is no difference between us, for we are united by Islam and the Sharia governs us."
Read 7 tweets
Bill Roggio Profile picture
14 Sep
1) Now That's Moderate! The Taliban's Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is back in business, with its moderate punishments of stoning for the crime of “illegal intercourse,” chopping off the hands of thieves, etc.
hindustantimes.com/world-news/tal…
2) Sheikh Mohammad Khalid is the current Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is a Taliban. He reports to Maulvi Abdul Hakim Sharia, the Minister of Justice.
3) Maulvi Abdul Hakim Sharia was the "shadow" Minister of Justice before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and is close to the Taliban's emir, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. He also was a negotiator at Doha.
longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/…
Read 5 tweets
Bill Roggio Profile picture
13 Sep
1) The Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak, Pakistan is the gift that keeps on giving - to the jihad. Note that the Taliban's Minister of Justice, Maulvi Abdul Hakim Sharia, & the Minister of Hajj/Religious Affairs, Maulvi Noor Mohammad Saqib, attended.
longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/…
2) Other notable alumni who attended the Darul Uloom Haqqania: Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's Interior Minister and arguably the group's most powerful leader. His father, who sponsored Osama bin Laden also attended the University of Jihad.
3) While Mullah Omar did not attend, he was granted an honorary degree. Darul Uloom Haqqania recognizes jihadi talent when it sees it, and rewards.
Mullah Mansour Akhund, the Taliban's second (and previous) emir, was a graduate of the University of Jihad.
Read 5 tweets
Bill Roggio Profile picture
13 Sep
1) Here are Afghanistan’s architects of failure: “No longer in uniform, Gens. Stanley McChrystal, David Petraeus, Joseph Dunford, John Allen, David McKiernan, Dan McNeill, and Lt. Gens. Eikenberry and David Barno, speak frankly.”
cnn.com/2021/09/12/pol…
2) Now that they are out of uniform and Afghanistan is lost, they’ll “speak frankly.” These are the generals who repeatedly boosted the Afghan military while telling, dare I say lying to us, that we’ve “turned the corner.”
3) But don’t worry, policy makers, politicians, and businessmen will continue to fall all over themselves while seeking the council of these failed generals. Some of these generals will no doubt sit on commissions to assess (read: whitewash) their own failure.
Read 4 tweets

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