Changes

As the impending crisis escalated, White House chief propagandists [[Jen Psaki]] said "The Taliban has to make an assessment about what they want their role to be in the international community."  Her comments came as reports flowed in of Taliban fighters going door-to-door and forcibly selecting girls as young as 12 to reward as brides for the victorious jihadis.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghans-tell-of-executions-forced-marriages-in-taliban-held-areas-11628780820</ref>

As the impending crisis escalated, White House chief propagandists [[Jen Psaki]] said "The Taliban has to make an assessment about what they want their role to be in the international community."  Her comments came as reports flowed in of Taliban fighters going door-to-door and forcibly selecting girls as young as 12 to reward as brides for the victorious jihadis.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghans-tell-of-executions-forced-marriages-in-taliban-held-areas-11628780820</ref>

[[File:Kabul 2021.jpg|left|350px|thumb|Joe Biden, the author of the [[Violence Against Women Act]], abandoning the women and girls of Afghanistan to the Taliban.]]

[[File:Kabul 2021.jpg|left|350px|thumb|Joe Biden, the author of the [[Violence Against Women Act]], abandoning the women and girls of Afghanistan to the Taliban.]]

Former Obama Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said,<ref>The Atlantic (2011). [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/panetta-will-run-pentagon-petraeus-to-lead-cia/237927/ Panetta Will Run Pentagon; Petraeus to Lead CIA].</ref> the Islamist group cares less about diplomatic relations than it does about the idea that it has defeated the world’s strongest military, a narrative that will embolden other Islamist militants around the world.

Former Obama Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said,<ref>The Atlantic (2011). [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/panetta-will-run-pentagon-petraeus-to-lead-cia/237927/ Panetta Will Run Pentagon; Petraeus to Lead CIA].</ref> the Islamist group cares less about diplomatic relations than it does about the idea that it has defeated the world’s strongest military, a [[narrative]] that will embolden other Islamist militants around the world.

{{quotebox-float|“We’re going to pay for that for a long time to come, and that’s why it is insane – just idiotic – to think that we can tell the Taliban that if they don’t stop taking over territory and play nice, the international community will withhold recognition and support.  The Taliban really doesn’t care, because they’ve got something far more valuable.”

{{quotebox-float|“We’re going to pay for that for a long time to come, and that’s why it is insane – just idiotic – to think that we can tell the Taliban that if they don’t stop taking over territory and play nice, the international community will withhold recognition and support.  The Taliban really doesn’t care, because they’ve got something far more valuable.”