Tag Archives: Donald Trump

The Cold War Roots of the Media Fiasco Over Israel

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 19 October 2023

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Jihadist “Forever Wars” Don’t End Because Western Troops Are Withdrawn

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 28 March 2023

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Christianity, the West, and Russia’s War on Ukraine

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 20 November 2022

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One Year On: The Ongoing Consequences of Abandoning Afghanistan

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 15 August 2022

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The Challenge for Western Intelligence in Talibanized Afghanistan

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 18 June 2022

A U.S. helicopter above the American Embassy in Kabul, 15 August 2021 | AP

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Islamic State Says the Massacre at Kabul Airport Shows They Are the True Jihadists

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 9 September 2021

Front page of Al-Naba 302

The Islamic State (IS) released the 302nd edition of Al-Naba, its weekly newsletter, on 2 September. The major focus of Al-Naba 302 was the 26 August bombing of the Kabul Airport by IS’s “Khorasan Province” (ISKP) that killed nearly 200 people, including thirteen members of the U.S. military (eleven marines, one soldier, and one navy corpsman), and wounded 150 people. Continue reading

Islamic State in Afghanistan and Putting Pakistan Back into the Discussion

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 26 August 2021

Islamic State Khorasan Province

The suicide bombings at the Kabul airport are almost certainly the work of the Islamic State’s “Khorasan Province” (ISKP), the branch of the organisation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that was officially recognised by Islamic State (ISIS) “Centre” in 2015. The group had been oddly quiet since the fall of Kabul, and we can now see why. Continue reading

Islamic State Reacts to Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan, Detects American Conspiracy

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 22 August 2021

Page three, Al-Naba 300

The Islamic State (IS) released the 300th edition of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba, on 19 August, wherein the main editorial on page three dealt with the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban on 15 August. The editorial was entitled, “Finally, They Elevated Mullah Bradley”. IS has used the term “Mullah Bradley” or “Mullah Bradley project” to refer to the Taliban, the accusation basically being that the Taliban are American agents. (The Taliban obviously are agents of a foreign power, but not the Americans.) The rest of the editorial fleshes out this idea that the U.S. and the Taliban have conspired in the Talibanization of Afghanistan, and the fact that all other Islamists support this—the Sururis, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.—only shows that IS is the sole standard bearer of Islam. Continue reading

Joe Biden Chose Disaster in Afghanistan

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 16 August 2021

The Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday after a nine-day offensive captured one provincial capital after another. The United States had already decided to abandon the country, and without the US the other NATO states had no choice but to leave. It was quite clear that the Afghan state would crumble in the absence of a Western presence, though it seems President Joe Biden thought he would have a longer “decent interval” before the Saigon evacuation scenes and the massacres began. Continue reading