Family awaits food aid in Afghanistan. (Photo: Meer Abdullah Rasikh / Afghan Red Crescent Society)
The United States continues its theft of Afghanistan's assets. The economy has collapsed and the population suffer from poverty and hunger. The Black Alliance for Peace explains in its latest update.
This article was originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.
Fourteen months after ostensibly exiting Afghanistan in humiliating defeat, the United States remains at war. Relations between the two countries continue to be driven by the United States’ arrogant, racist posturing, which judges Afghanistan’s Central Bank to be unfit to recover its own foreign reserves following a unilateral confiscation. The Biden administration has stated its willingness to appoint an international board of trustees to manage the administration of Afghanistan’s finances. As in Haiti, the United States makes clear its contempt for the sovereignty of nations. Reports of widespread hunger, malnutrition and job losses have not moved the United States to reconsider its position. The U.S. goal appears to be to isolate and plunge Afghanistan into a state of complete deprivation.
The imposition of sanctions against Afghanistan is a policy of collective punishment constituting a crime against humanity, and is yet another example of the United States operating beyond the norms of international law. We condemn these actions and maintain reparations are necessary for Afghanistan following the 20-year U.S. war and occupation that is directly responsible for the conditions the Afghan people face today.
Additional Reading
Russia Inks Deal to Supply Afghanistan with Fuel and Grain (The Cradle)
Afghanistan has been grappling with an acute food crisis and the resurgence of ISIS in the country, whose ranks have been bolstered by U.S.-trained operatives.
Despite Humanitarian Aid, Life in Afghanistan Is Reaching a New Low (The Washington Post)
There is little prospect for improvement in Afghanistan without the unfreezing of government assets held in the United States and the restoration of the country’s access to international financial systems.
China’s Balancing Act In Afghanistan (Oil Price)
China’s strategic interests in Afghanistan are to forestall the country from becoming an arena of geopolitical competition, prevent Afghanistan from falling back into the orbit of the West and promote stability to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for extremist groups.
Communiqué of the U.S.-Europe Group on Afghanistan (U.S. State Department)
Special Envoys and Representatives of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Washington, D.C., on September 15 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
I Watched the Afghan Government Collapse Under the Weight of Its Own Greed (The Intercept)
Afghan journalist Elyas Nawandish on the corruption of the U.S.-backed government and the U.S. abandonment of Afghan soldiers and police during last year’s withdrawal.
U.S. Will Not Fund Non-State Actors in Afghanistan: Taliban Sources (Al-Jazeera)
The Taliban has repeatedly called for the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen funds, including international aid that was suspended after the U.S. withdrawal, to help its dying economy.
President Biden, Release My Father from Guantanamo Says Ismail, Son of Muhammad Rahim (CAGE)
One year on from the U.S. withdrawal and defeat in Afghanistan, the United States continues to hold innocent Afghan men in its infamous prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Ali Abunimah is Director of electronicantifada.net, an independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine.
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