I’m leaning toward the view that an international agreement was made among the global power elite to cede Afghanistan to the Chinese orbit, with the expectation that China will engage in the economic development of Afghanistan (like they’re doing in Africa) but where the Western powers are still getting a cut of the loot, and with China using Xingjian-like repression to control Islamic extremism in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already started moving into the Chinese orbit, probably with the hope that China will provide them with assistance against their local rivals like ISIS-K, the Northern Alliance, or Afghanistan’s Uyghurs. So far Sanders and the Squad have mostly stayed quiet on Afghanistan, probably because they’re having to straddle the fence between different sectors of their supporters.