TALIBAN GOVERNMENT: RECOGNIZE THEM NOW, NO FURTHER DELAY NECESSARY.

ICHEOKU says they were able to put a government together within such a reasonable time, barely one week after the United States pulled its troops out of Afghanistan. They were also able to repair and reopen the Kabul international airport within a record time. They have so far conducted themselves in ways not as harshly as their first time around. It is therefore about time the international community show them that they like what they are seeing and encourage them to maintain the right direction. 

We should therefore support their effort as go forth to govern their country by immediately recognizing their newly constituted government and help them get off the ground running. There is no need to adopt any "wait and see" approach or to say that "we are not in a rush to recognize them" because there is nothing else to find out. They are the only authority now in Afghanistan, regardless of the manner they got into power. At worst, we can see them as a government that came to power through a military coup and treat them as any such other country with similar experience by encouraging them to democratize. But to do nothing or defer establishing diplomatic relations with them, especially by reopening the embassy building in Kabul and reactivating other under the radar activities on the ground in Kabul will be hurtful to the overall security interest needs of America. 

The United States of America must not act as a dog in the manger or remain a sore loser because of the manner it was forced out of Afghanistan by protesting the newly formed Taliban government in Kabul. The war is over and every effort and action, going forward, must be geared towards asserting a firm influence over them and working out how best to protect the fragility of Afghanistan and not allow it to degenerate any further or collapse back to a terrorists breeding enclave. The Taliban may not be the government which we want or would have preferred in Afghanistan, but any government which can hold Afghanistan together and prevent it from sliding back into a complete anarchy is still better than no government at all. 

We can assist with the keeping of Afghanistan together by acting now and immediately recognize the Taliban government and work with them and try and influence them from the inside. To the victor, goes the spoil and they won the war; and therefore have earned the  right to constitute a government of their choosing. Nobody tells America the type of government to have or who should participate in it; so why is anyone bothered that the Taliban have chosen a government which they believe is in the best interest of their people, the Afghanis. It does not matter that it is an Islamic government with sharia law flavor and it should not matter either the people they put in charge to run the affairs of their state, what they did in their past lives notwithstanding. 

If those Guantanamo-5 were good enough to participate in the withdrawal negotiations in Doha Qatar, and were also rightfully released by the United States government in a trade for Bowe Bergdahi, then they should be good enough to participate in the government which they secured as a result of the negotiated withdrawal. It is their country, their Taliban, their choice; and now their government. All the West can do now is to find a way to eat their humble pie and work with the hand which fate dealt them, the enemies the Taliban, coming back to power. In fact it is the only option now left and we must cease it timely before we lose out clout to other budding interests including Russia and China. 

So what if the Taliban suppressed a protest recently? America also suppressed the January 6th Capitol riot and many others before and since after. Lets not forget that an unarmed civilian, a woman and a veteran was summarily executed inside the Capitol on that day, yet we are speaking of the Taliban as if they are the only ruthless government on planet earth. If they do not want women participating in their government, it is a cultural thing and we should respect that. Homosexuals participate in our government and so many countries would consider that as an intolerable aberration, yet no country has demanded that we first exclude weirdos from governance before they can deal with us. 

Our culture respects and accepts that and other countries accepts to respect America and its culture, so why cannot us also reciprocate this gesture by allowing other countries to maintain their own cultures as well. If they do not determine for us who should serve in our government, why are we serving them the potion which we will not drink by insisting that they must have women in their government. What if their culture sees such as a taboo, regardless of how mundane it might sound? We should as a matter of course, defer to them on who serves in their government based on what is their acceptable cultural norms. 

But how many women even serve in our friend and ally Saudi Arabia's government? How about Iranian, Pakistani, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and other Islamic countries which America has cordial relationship with. so why is Afghanistan being singled out for this moral decency lessons of inclusivity? if we can tolerate these other countries and respect their cultural and religious need, why not Afghanistan? These countries consider homosexuals as taboo, yet they do not ask nor demand that we consider them same by excluding them from governance. Why are we forcing our values on them? 

It is their culture and religion and we should be humble enough to respect and accommodate it; as we continue to work them into understanding the alternative, and the advantages and benefits of inclusiveness. So far, they are behaving themselves as they know that the world is watching them very closely and they also want to be accepted as a bona fide government. We should take advantage of this their burning desire to be certified and approach them showing more compassion and then exploit it to get them change certain things is due course. 

At least the devil one knows is always better than the stranger devil; and since these Taliban leaders are people already known to the West, it will be much easier to work with them and eventually get them to do what the West wants and desires with time. They  pledged that Afghanistan's soil will not be used against the security of any other country. This should be good enough to allay fears of Afghanistan once again becoming a breeding ground for terrorism. We should work with them to ensure this never happens again. We might even at some point down the road, even cajoling them into allowing a military base in  Afghanistan for terrorism watch post. 

They have asked foreign diplomats, embassies, consulates and humanitarian organizations to return to Afghanistan and we should take them on this offer by reopening immediately all the embassies and consulates that were shuttered upon the withdrawal of forces. It is better to have assets on the ground, both human and electronics, to help monitor them better from close quarters. If they want a sharia law in their nearly 100% Muslim Afghanistan, so be it; as we have Judeo-Christian based English law in the West and nobody has questioned that. 

They promised a lasting peace, prosperity and development in Afghanistan and asked their people not to abandon their homeland but to stay and to help rebuild their war damaged country back better. This should be encouraged in order to save Afghanistan from ever sliding back to ruinous state. They also stated that they have no problem with anyone or any country and you ask yourself what other assurances do the West need before they can let the Taliban show them the money of their commitment by making due all the deliverables. It is the right toned speech and the West should help them realize them by sticking around closely and not deserting them. We can leverage and influence them to change their behavior but not by isolating them.

The people they announced as members of their interim government are people who the West already have dossiers on. Mullah Hasan Akhund, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Hedayatullah Badri, Abbas Stanikzai, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Norullah Noori, Khairullah Khairkhah, Mullah Mohammad Fazi, Mohammad Nabi Omari and Haibatullah Akhundzada are well known by the West and could be easily reached should the need ever arises. So, lets recognize the Taliban government now; and yes, we should be in a hurry to do so and not wait another 20 years to do it. Nature abhors vacuum and the longer we wait the more opportunity Russia and China will have time to exploit and fill the void which we left.