Expert Analyzes Uncertainty in Afghanistan

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: What do you mean by that? How has the country changed and how can they resist another insurgence from the Taliban?

SAAD MOHSENI, OWNER, TOLO TV: Well, Afghanistan is a vastly different country. We have the youngest population outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Median age is 18. The majority of Afghans are under the age of 20. Most Afghans were now educated. Some 65, 70 percent of under 30s hardly remember the Taliban times. They are used to media. They’re used to social media. They’re used to mobile telephones. And they’re much more progressive than they were and much more modern. It’s a vastly urbanized country. Obviously, I mean, there’s not — they’re not going to be able to pick up a gun basically and fight. But I think they will resist in other ways. And they’re going to refuse to accept a Taliban-style regime in a country that really has moved on from the late 1990s.

GOLODRYGA: I want to read from your piece. You write: “Afghanistan will not go back to the country it was under the Taliban. It now has the youngest population outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Afghans now live in cities and towns. The majority of our youths are literate and receiving an education and have access to the Internet. More Afghans than ever accept the rights of women and minorities. The country’s media revolution has forever changed the way Afghans see themselves and see each other and how they engage with the wider world.” I understand the point you’re making there. It’s much more difficult now to put the genie back in the bottle. But I have to say, it’s hard to be optimistic after seeing the images and the reports of the Taliban coming back at that the pace it has and the brutality that it has used. Many may say that or some may say that this is a different Taliban, but how can you be so sure?

MOHSENI: No, they’re definitely not different. The way that they have treated women in the areas that they have taken over, the way that they have served on media operations, the way that they have executed their perceived enemies, they’re not very different. Taliban 2.0 is very similar to the first Taliban. I think the Americans have made their decision to leave. And I think most people accept that. It’s just the transition and how they have managed this withdrawal that concerns us and hastily executed plan, where they effectively have left the country within three months. And the transition has been managed very, very badly. And it’s very disappointing to see. So I think we have been left in a lurch. And certainly we are very worried and not as — not optimistic at all about the future prospects of the country.