4 Reasons A Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan Matters To The World

Helicopters evacuating Americans from Kabul as the Taliban closed in was a scene likened to the 1975 fall of Saigon in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

Afghanistan's U.S.-trained forces appeared to readily collapse in the face of a concerted push by Taliban forces. Names and places that became familiar to Americans during their country's long involvement there — including Kunduz and Kandahar — fell like dominoes in recent days as the Taliban swept toward the capital.

The Taliban have gained a reputation for brutality and enforcement of a harsh brand of Islamic justice in the five years they ruled until being toppled by invading U.S.-led forces in 2001.

Here's a look at why the outcome in Afghanistan matters:

Afghanistan will become a human rights problem

In the provinces they had captured before this weekend, there's strong evidence that the Taliban of today and the Taliban of 20 years ago are not much different.

The Taliban of the past were infamous for denying education to women, carrying out public executions of their opponents, persecuting minorities, such as the Shiite Hazaras, and destroying the priceless ancient giant stone Buddhas at Bamiyan.