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Weekend Reads
On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered one of the greatest tragedies in its history when al-Qaeda terrorists killed over 3,000 innocent Americans. Twenty-three years after these attacks and three years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan is once again a haven for transnational terrorist groups like al-Qaeda.
Luke Coffey examines the state of the country and explains why supporting the National Resistance Front (NRF), the only credible non-extremist group willing to take up arms against the Taliban, is America’s best policy option in Afghanistan. And last month, Coffey hosted the group’s leader, Ahmad Massoud, and its head of foreign relations, Ali Maisam Nazary. Watch the event here.
Key Insights
1. The bleak situation in Afghanistan has renewed the threat of terrorism around the world.
Now that the Taliban is in power, the group’s leaders are realizing it was far easier to fight the Afghan government than to govern the country. This poor governance has caused the worst humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan since the 1990s, and al-Qaeda has benefited from the chaos. A recent United Nations report says that al-Qaeda “remains strategically patient, cooperating with other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and prioritizing its ongoing relationship with the Taliban” and that the terror group’s “cells are operating in multiple Afghan provinces, mainly in the southeast of the country.”
2. Terrorist activity in Afghanistan compounds America’s border crisis.
Because of America’s porous southern border, Taliban control of Afghanistan has security implications for the US homeland. Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation caught a smuggling network with connections to the Islamic State trafficking dozens of Uzbeks across the southern border. And earlier this year, eight Tajiks with ties to the so-called Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) were arrested in New York City, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia—all of whom were thought to have crossed the southern border. It is worth pointing out that Tajiks from IS-K perpetrated the terrorist attack in Moscow in March 2024 that killed 144 people. While the vast majority of Central Asians are likely seeking entry into the US out of desperation for a new life, policymakers cannot ignore the terrorist threat.
3. The US should engage with the NRF for four main reasons.
First, having a local partner would help America meet its counterterrorism objectives in Afghanistan. Second, supporting the NRF would be a step toward following through on America’s moral commitments to its Afghan allies. Third, engaging with the NRF would give the US a regional partner at the heart of the Eurasian landmass. This would help protect America’s geopolitical interests in Central Asia. Last, history shows that Afghanistan is too important to ignore. While there is no silver bullet to correct the Biden administration’s geopolitically costly mistakes in Afghanistan, support for the NRF would be a good start.
Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.
Go Deeper
On What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead discussed the lingering effects of September 11 on American history.
Both Americans and Iraqis would prefer to see most US troops withdrawn from the country, but the Iraqi military still relies on American support to fight groups like Daesh (ISIS). Luke Coffey explains that a US withdrawal would need to be done in a responsible and realistic way.
Last year, Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) joined NRF Head of External Relations Ali Maisam Nazary and Luke Coffey to discuss the future of resistance against the Taliban.
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