Developing. We are publishing this article as it is being written. Please check back for updates.l To see a list of previous articles, enter “Ukraine”…
Read More
See, “Defending the Right to Life and Other Human Rights During the Coronavirus Pandemic;” Lawyers for Humanity, Updated May 7, 2020, updated October 26, 2021….
See Jacques Follorou((avec Benjamin Barthe), “Les talibans cherchent à briser leur isolement diplomatique; La Russie organise une conférence internationale le 20 octobre à Moscou censée…
With the Americans and the Europeans firmly set in their demands that the Taliban provide guarantees for the respect of human rights before assets can be freed or aid can flow, the Afghan economy appears on the verge of collapse.
As winter is fast approaching, a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions becomes more likely very day.
It is difficult to see either side yielding, while diplomacy is awkward and takes a lot of time.
In these circumstances, it seems likely that millions of Afghans will starve to death before the assistance they so desperately need reaches them.
The best reporting out of Afghanistan continues to be by Jacques Follorou of Le Monde and Ángeles Espinoa of El País. Their dispatches are linked to here, and can be easily translated by using Google Translate (translate.google.com).
The window into Afghanistan is likely to start closing, as reader interest shifts to other subjects, as it did in the case of Syria. In the meantime, we can be grateful for the reporting by Folloroy and Espinosa, as well as that of as that of other excellent and courageous journalists who report on Afghanistan, sometimes from within the country.
There will be a continuous stream of stories about the disaster that is unfolding in Afghanistan, including the potential collapse of the economy, the enormous humanitarian disasters including famines which lie ahead, and ultimately whether civil war erupts once again among a desperate population struggling to survive.
Americans live in the twilight of a democracy that will not defend itself.
One question tells the whole story: Why has Trump not been indicted?
See, 1) Ali M Latifi, “How deep are divisions among the Taliban? Sources tell Al Jazeera the discord is very real and if disharmony grows,…
The key point is that the international community should not deny to the people of Afghanistan–the individual life-and-blood human beings–the aid they need to survive, on the theory that withholding aid will make the Taliban respect human rights. For examples of the challenges of survival these human beings face, see Espinosa and Follorou, above.
UPDATE September 6, 2021, 5:00p.m. EDT News Reports say Baradar wounded in gunfight on Friday, September 3, currently receiving medical treatment in Pakistan See, 1)…
See, 1) “Afghanistan: Mullah Baradar promises ‘inclusive’ government; Speaking to Al Jazeera, Taliban leader stresses security is necessary to overcoming challenges facing the country,” Al…
The Taliban are forming their government in Kandahar, with few concessions such as those imagined by American and Western leaders in their illusionary wishful thinking. Espinosa reports from a source close to the Taliban that the protection of women’s rights seems to be a third priority, while there sa a push toward decentralization. The latter augurs poorly for those provinces under the control of the most hardline factions within the Taliban.
Those who know Afghanistan appear to be getting it right.
“General amnesty has been granted,” he wrote, adding that “we are focusing on future.”
Yet there are growing reports of detentions, disappearances and even executions of officials at the hands of the Taliban, in what some current and former government officials describe as a covert and sometimes deadly pursuit of the Taliban’s enemies.
…
Leaving behind computer records that would enable the Taliban to identify who worked with the allies and acted as intelligence sources is inexcusable, as inexscusable as the American surrender and withdrawal which was not negotiated subject to serious conditions.
The closer you look. the more shocking and scandalous the Biden administration’s decisions and actions related to the American withdrawal seem to be.
The American military’s record is definitely mixed. While they seem to have done an impressive job with their airlift out of Kabul airport, given a disastrous lack of planning, perhaps the most enduring image of the U.S. military’s performance was their departure from Bagram Air Base in the middle of the night, without even telling their erstwhile Afghan “partners” they were leaving.
While there is ample blame to be shared by others, particularly Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken, and Jake Sullivan, Lloyd Austin was Secretary of Defense and directly responsible for the military’s failings. If there is to be any accountability for this catastropHe, Austin should be fired–along with Blinken and Sullivan.
