Trump Made My Worst-Case Predictions for 2020 Look Tame
The president’s savior complex was central to my annual list of geopolitical forecasts
In September 1996, the Taliban captured the Afghan capital of Kabul. In a strike of unexpected speed, thousands of fighters streamed into the ancient, mountain-ringed city aboard Toyota Hilux pickups. One group of them knocked at the gate of a well-known United Nations compound housing Mohammed Najibullah, the much-hated former Afghan president. The men killed Najibullah, fulfilling a promise the Taliban had made years ago, and dragged his body through the streets. Then they hung it from a traffic pole outside the presidential palace.
Americans may have only just avoided a Najibullah moment last week when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol: At least one rioter threatened to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Two men carried zip-tie handcuffs, and the FBI is currently investigating whether there were plans to take members of Congress hostage. One video shows a group of rioters chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” No one knows whether the rioters would have actually carried out the threats if they came face to face with the vice president or any members of Congress. But the severity of the attack, in which rioters murdered a police officer by striking him with a fire extinguisher…
