# 2021 Taliban offensive

A military offensive by the Taliban and allied militant groups against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its allies began on 1 May 2021, coinciding with the withdrawal of United States and allied troops from Afghanistan. The offensive marked the end of the near 20 year old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the United States invasion of the country in response to the September 11 attacks and resulted in the de facto takeover of the country and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

## Quotes
### A

* What we’ve witnessed this week in Afghanistan is a watershed moment in Western decline.
** Ayaan Hirsi Ali , Biden’s most heartless betrayal Aug 2021 Biden’s most heartless betrayal
* We praise the Almighty, the Ominpotent, who humiliated and defeated America, the head of disbelief,” the statement reads. “We praise Him for breaking America’s back, tarnishing its global reputation and expelling it, disgraced and humiliated, from the Islamic land of Afghanistan... “On this historic occasion, we would like to offer our congratulations to the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, specifically Haibatullah Akhundzada,” the statement reads. “May Allah accept your martyrs – the men, women and children who offered sacrifices in this path!”
** Aug 2021, Al Qaeda’s senior leadership . Statement by Al Qaeda. the congratulatory message was released by As-Sahab, al Qaeda’s media arm, in Arabic and English Al Qaeda praises Taliban’s ‘historic victory’ in AfghanistanAl-Qaeda congratulates Taliban, calls for Kashmir ‘liberation’
* Congratulations to the Islamic Ummah on the victory granted by Allah in Afghanistan!
** Aug 2021, Al Qaeda’s senior leadership . Statement by Al Qaeda. the congratulatory message was released by As-Sahab, al Qaeda’s media arm, in Arabic and English Al Qaeda praises Taliban’s ‘historic victory’ in AfghanistanAl-Qaeda congratulates Taliban, calls for Kashmir ‘liberation’

### B

* When India was under British rule, our country fought for freedom. Now Taliban wants to free their country & run it. Taliban is a force that did not allow even strong countries like Russia & America to settle in their country.
** Shafiqur Rahman Barq, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal as quoted in ANI News Aug 2021
* The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable… So the question now is, where do they go from here? That — the jury is still out. But the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.
** Joe Biden, “Remarks by President Biden on the Drawdown of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan”, (July 8, 2021)
* Q:: Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?
    THE PRESIDENT: No, it is not.
    Q: Why?:
    THE PRESIDENT: Because you — the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable.
   * Joe Biden, “Remarks by President Biden on the Drawdown of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan”, (July 8, 2021)
* I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban... And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.
** Joe Biden, as quoted in Aug 2021

### C

* Choudary is urging the Taliban to change the name of Afghanistan to Islamic State, which is what IS called its territory once it declared a caliphate. He said: ‘There should be the removal of all borders and an invitation to all Muslims to become citizens of the new Islamic State with the aim to unite the Muslim land of the Indian sub-continent to begin with, to be the precursor of greater unity under the Khilafah [caliphate].’
** Anjem Choudary as quoted in Anjem Choudary urges Taliban to be MORE hard line: Fanatical hate preacher tells jihadists to chop off thieves' hands, stone adulterers and flog drinkers

### F

* The United States walked out of Afghanistan in 1990 and made Pakistan the custodian of Afghanistan’s future. Today, it is repeating the same mistake. When the Taliban once again transform Afghanistan into a base of operations for modern Islamist terrorist organizations, Washington will only have itself to blame.
** C. Fair in Pakistan and the United States Have Betrayed the Afghan People

### G

* Unlike the Soviets defeated before them, the Americans’ legacy was not a landscape littered with the destroyed hulks of armored vehicles. Instead, they left all the arms and equipment needed to supply the Taliban, the victors, for years to come, the product of two decades and $83 billion training and equipping an Afghan military and police forces that collapsed in the face of poor leadership and dwindling U.S. support.
** Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “Afghanistan, an Unceremonious End, and a Shrouded Beginning”, New York Times, Aug. 30, 2021
* “When history will be written, it will be said that ISI defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with America’s help,” Gul remarked. “But it will also be added that ISI defeated America (in Afghanistan) with America’s help.”
** General Gul as quoted in
* We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this,' he said.
** Afghan President Ghani as quoted in quoted in Aug 2021

### K

* What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery.... When you adopt someone’s culture you believe it to be superior and you end up becoming a slave to it. You take over the other culture and become psychologically subservient. When that happens, please remember, it is worse than actual slavery. It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement.
** Imran Khan, as quoted in Taliban have broken ‘the shackles of slavery,’ says Pakistan PM Imran Khan Aug 2021
* The [American] Regime is fake; the world can see it now. It is propped up by handlers and fluffers and fawning press, dosed with mood enhancers and Adderall and uppers to keep up appearances. It cannot continue. This, in the end, is the silver lining of the Afghanistan debacle. The hard truth has finally emerged, full grown and ugly, for all to see. If it is any tiny consolation to the families of the brave warriors we lost, and those who came home alive but irreparably damaged: their sacrifice exposed the carefully concealed rot at the top.
** Peachy Keenan, Woke Fragility, The American Mind, 18 August 2021
* As Mordechai Kedar put it, “August 15, 2021 will forever be remembered in the Islamic world as the victory of Islam over Christianity, the victory of faith over heresy, and the victory of tradition over permissiveness. … These events are pumping new blood into jihad arteries and the results are being seen around the world, including in Israel.”
** M Kedar, as quoted in Aug 2021

### N

* I salute you for your courage, bravery and decades of sacrifice. As an unarmed group with science and technology not at your side, you have ousted the most advanced forces from your region. It will now bring an era of peace for Afghanistan and the region.
** Sajjad Nomani, in August 2021, quoted in Aug 2021

### O

* Got blood on my hands Got blood on my hands And I don't understand What's happening There's blood on these hands And still American's Left to the Taliban Now how's that happening? Winkin' Blinken Can't you look me in the eyes Willy Milley Tell me when did you decide This we'll defend Your sacred motto Now means... never mind Got blood on my hands Got blood on my hands Flag of the Taliban Over Afghanistan I can't hear her scream if shе's not, she's not She's not on TV To every Afghan ally that we left behind Every child who won't know freedom Faces covered and blind As for this American promise Now... shit in the Fire.
** John Ondrasik, Five for Fighting – Blood On My Hands

### P

* This weekend the US experienced another “Saigon moment,” this time in Afghanistan. After a 20 year war that drained trillions from Americans’ pockets, the capital of Afghanistan fell without a fight. The corrupt Potemkin regime that the US had been propping up for two decades and the Afghan military that we had spent billions training just melted away.
** Ron Paul, Kabul Has Fallen—but Don’t Blame Biden, Mises Institute, 16 August 2021

### R

* In short, the 20 years of America’s and NATO’s war in Afghanistan has ended in ignominious failure – total and absolute. So, of course, did the Soviets’ war, but not quite so abruptly.
** Paul Robinson, After 20 years & billions of dollars, the American defeat in Afghanistan is worse than the Soviet failure...how has this happened?, RT, 13 August 2021
* “We are custodians of Taliban leaders. We have taken care of them for long. They got shelter, education and a home in Pakistan. We have done everything for them," declared Rashid openly while speaking on Hum News programme ‘Breaking Point with Malick’.
** Pakistani minister Sheikh Rashid Aug 2021, as quoted in
* The Taliban conquered Afghanistan, not with the power of means and resources, but with the eternal wealth of faith and belief! Moreover, by announcing a general amnesty, the Taliban proved that it belonged to the group of slaves of Muhammad (peace be upon him)... The victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan is enough to show that wars are won with the help of God, not with intelligence and strength."
** Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani, the Secretary of AIMPLB. Aug 2021 as quoted in AIMPLB Secy Calls Taliban Capturing Afghan 'extraordinary Success'; Clarifies Later

### S

* “Taliban have said that they are with us and they will help us in [liberating] Kashmir.”
** PTI leader Neelam Irshad Sheikh , a leader of Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as quoted in Aug 2021
* “Every evidence we have in hand shows that IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs and Haqqani network, particularly those operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with ISIS is identical/similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Talibs have learned very well from the master,” Saleh reiterated after the bomb blast that killed over a 100 civilians in Kabul last week.
** Acting president of Afghanistan Amrullah Sale, Aug 2021, — Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 27, 2021 on Twitter, as quoted in
* I do blame Pakistan. Over the years, we have seen videos, seen evidence that Pakistan is behind empowering the Taliban. Every time our government touches the Taliban, the identification reveals him to be a Pakistani person. So it is very obvious that I (would) blame them and hope that they would back off and would not interfere in the politics of Afghanistan anymore.
** Aryana Sayeed, as quoted in Sep 2021

### T

* This is the most embarrassing moment in our country's history. ... Perhaps in world history, there has never been a withdrawal operation that has been handled so disastrously.
** Donald Trump, as quoted in Aug 2021: Trump tears into Biden for abandoning Afghans to the Taliban and says fall of Kabul was a 'coup of incompetent people'
* This will go down as one of the greatest military defeats of all time.
** Donald Trump, as quoted in Aug 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal is 'greatest military defeat of all time', says Donald Trump
* Never in history has a withdrawal from war been handled so badly or incompetently as the Biden Administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. In addition to the obvious, ALL EQUIPMENT should be demanded to be immediately returned to the United States, and that includes every penny of the $85 billion dollars in cost.
** Donald Trump, 2021, as quoted in Trump: US should take military action if Taliban don't return billions in equipment

### U

* The peaceful entry of Taliban in Kabul, their announcement of general amnesty and ensuring peaceful transfer of power reminds us the conquest of Makkah. It has proved to the world that no power of high-tech forces can stand before the power of trust in Allah. A lesson for all.
** Muhammad Taqi Usmani as quoted in Aug 16, 2021

### W

* If this isn't failure, what does failure look like exactly?
** C. Ward, as quoted in Aug 2021

## See also

* War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
* Taliban