What ever happened to the peace talks between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan? The problem with district after district “falling” to the Taliban is that they haven’t fallen (“ Al-Qaeda mocks US exit from Afghanistan, as Taliban advances ”, July 12). Not really. Afghans aren’t invincible, but few remain fallen. To save their own lives and those of their loved ones, any human being will submit – for a moment, for a day. Submission to God you can hold in your heart. Submission to others somehow just doesn’t take. I wonder why that is. The “fallen” recoup, the violence continues. It’s happened countless times before. When a foreigner tries to take over Afghanistan by force, it’s arrogance. When an Afghan tries to do so, no matter what other newfangled name he goes by, it’s sheer foolishness: the furthest thing from holy. Cease fire. An Afghan life is the entire economy, never mind any single, imagined pipeline. An Afghan life is a book to write more books. An Afghan life holds our religion, our natural resources – Afghanistan. Cease fire. I would do almost anything to return to an Afghanistan without the noise of guns and bombs. Who wants to keep reading and writing about war? Afghans don’t want to keep dying in one war after another. Cease fire. Zohal Osman, Louisville, Kentucky US retreat from Afghanistan repeats history Since the Korean war, the United States has lost in many of the conflicts it has fought in the developing world. It has epitomised the tragedy of the world’s sole superpower’s lack of capability in asymmetric conflicts. The withdrawal from Afghanistan is actually a tactical retreat without having achieved the invasion’s original objectives. The power vacuum created will begin a deadly contest for supremacy in this strategic area. The West and Nato would be foolish to open a new front by attacking Iran as any new massive military conflict in this area will usher in a war of immense proportions. Nato’s departure from the Afghanistan conflict serves as a sombre reminder that full-spectrum warfare is now obsolete. The US retreat from Afghanistan is part of an exit strategy formulated by the military-industrial complex. These are historical events planned in advance. Western wars have been designed for global dominance. The aim is to create and fund insurgencies that could be confronted in a series of low-intensity battles that can continue without end. These would gradually spread instability through strategic areas such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Libya, Iraq and Yemen. All insurgent groups were created to deceive a gullible world. The supreme intent is to subdue once and for all those regimes that remain stubbornly unintegrated into the Western system of finance and governance. Video of Taliban executing 22 Afghan commandos ignites criticism of US exit Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein paid the price of non-compliance and were executed by the planners of regime change. Witness the threats today against Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, Russia and China. As the old saying goes, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, it was planned that way.” Farouk Araie, Benoni, South Africa