Taliban Magazine Claims Obama Weak Like Gorbachev, U.S. Defeated Like The U.S.S.R.

An article in the Taliban magazine Azan compares Barack Obama at this point with Michel Gorbachev in 1989–saying both lost in Afghanistan and both lost their own countries. 

The article opens by describing Afghanistan as “the graveyard of empires” which is “bearing witness to the fall of another self-proclaimed ‘Super Power,’ i.e. the U.S.A.”

The Middle East Media Research Institute has provided excerpts of the article in which various examples of Muslim military victories throughout the centuries are highlighted. The article then turns toward contemporary wars, making the point that just as the Soviets left Afghanistan in defeat so too: 

The world is seeing as a handful of mujahideen under the leadership of Mullah Omar are defeating one of the most powerful super powers in the history of the world. …When the U.S. attacked Afghanistan [in October 2001], the people of intellect were wondering how long it would take for America to suffer its inevitable defeat and who would be leading its army when it would eventually drag its defeated tail out of Afghanistan.

The excerpts also show a juxtaposition between the rise of poverty and want in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev in the 1980s and the rise of traditional poverty indicators under Obama during this time in office. Whereas Gorbachev had to introduce a “war-food system of food distribution for his citizens,” America has witnessed a poverty increase from 37.3 million in 2007 to 46.9 million in 2010, according to Azan. 

Moreover, the article touches on the “severe public discontent” under Gorbachev and the movements calling for “separation” which erupted in parts of the Soviet Union at that time. In the same way, the article claims there are “various movements” likewise calling for separation in the U.S. now. According to Azan, “around 30 states [are] calling for separation.”

Although the figure of “30 states” is wrong, the overarching goal of the article may still prove successful–that goal is to show that Obama, like Gorbachev before him, is a weak man who’s losing his grip on this own country while simultaneously facing defeat abroad. 

The tagline is simple–Obama is weak like Gorbachev, the U.S. is being defeated like the U.S.S.R.