Taliban the new Ghani, ISIS the new Taliban—Tolo TV Head Makes Case for Engaging New Afghan Regime

In an interview that uses both perceptive broad-brush analysis as well as detailed and specific pinpointing to comprehensively create an accurate picture of the state of Afghanistan 12 days after the victory of Taliban, the owner of Tolo Television, Afghanistan’s internationally acclaimed and domestically most popular television channel, has said Thursday evening’s bomb-blasts have created “Afghanistan’s Ground Hog Day”. This is a reference to a famous American movie where the hero keeps re-living the past and nothing changes and improves. Underlining this point, Saad Mohseni said “now Taliban is the new Ghani and ISIS is the new Taliban”. Mr. Mohseni also said the Taliban lacked the capacity to respond adequately to the challenge from ISIS and they urgently need help from the world. Mr. Mohseni added that the world has a window of opportunity, which may not remain open for more than a week, to help the Taliban establish administration, policing and effective governance. Otherwise, he added, “The Taliban could become like the Khmer Rouge”. This is a reference to the brutal Communist Party that captured power in Cambodia in 1975 and reportedly killed millions of people, a story forcefully captured by the Hollywood film ‘The Killing Fields’. Join The Wire's Youtube Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month.    / @thewirenews