Cartoons In Arab Press On U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan: The U.S. Has Fled The Country, Defeated; The Taliban Has Not Changed, Terror Will Flourish In Afghanistan

Cartoons In Arab Press On U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan: The U.S. Has Fled The Country, Defeated; The Taliban Has Not Changed, Terror Will Flourish In Afghanistan

By: MEMRI, September 23, 2021:

In the recent weeks, the Arab press has published many cartoons responding to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country. Some of the cartoons convey that the Taliban defeated the U.S. and booted it out of the country, causing it to flee in humiliation and to abandon the Afghans who helped it. The cartoons highlight the blow to America’s standing in the world, and also suggest that the heavy burden of the 20-year war in the country will continue to haunt it.

It should be noted that many of the cartoons celebrating the Taliban victory and expressing contempt for the U.S. withdrawal were published in the Qatari state press,  and reflect the pro-Taliban stance of the Qatari media. This country, which presents itself as a fair and neutral intermediary in talks between the Taliban and the U.S., effectively supports the Taliban and other terror movements, and has hosted Taliban leaders on its soil in recent years.

Other recent cartoons in the Arab press express concern for Afghanistan’s fate following the U.S. withdrawal, conveying that it is now a ticking bomb waiting to explode with escalating violence. Some warn that, although the Taliban tries to portray itself as more moderate than it was in the past, it has not really changed, and the Afghans are bound to suffer under its rule. Others predict that Afghanistan under the Taliban will become a haven for other jihad groups, such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The following is a sampling of the cartoons.

The U.S. Was Defeated By The Taliban And Fled, Humiliated

As stated, some of the cartoons focus on what they portray as the Taliban’s triumph and America’s undignified flight from the country. The Qatari-owned London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi published three cartoons by cartoonist Osama Hajaj  depicting what he perceives as the declining global image of the U.S. in light of its Afghanistan exit. One shows a Taliban fighter sweeping the tattered remains of the U.S. flag off a map of Afghanistan.

Another depicts the U.S. as a ship hitting an iceberg in the form of a Taliban mullah.

The third cartoon, titled “Biden and Afghanistan!!”, shows the American president trying in vain to flee the Taliban octopus.

Another cartoon in Al-Quds Al-Arabi, by Omayya Joha, shows the Taliban kicking the U.S. out of “Afghanistan.”

The Qatari daily Al-Watan published a cartoon by Elie Saliba depicting “Afghanistan” as the “graveyard of empires.”

The Al-Sharq daily, also from Qatar, published a cartoon by Ahmed Rahma in which “history” records the annals of Afghanistan: “The British withdrawal in 1919, the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and the American withdrawal in 2021.”

The Emirati daily Al-Khalij published a cartoon by Haroon showing the U.S. flag dropping off the mast of “Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan After The U.S. Withdrawal Is A Ticking Bomb

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