Here’s where you get a chance to be an unpaid diplomat-slash-policymaker. What is our responsibility to the Afghan people now? In July remarks on the imminent withdrawal of troops from the country, Pres. Biden said:
We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build. And it’s the right and the responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country. \
The country is in a world of hurt. Do we help? And if yes, how?
We can only hope to have impact through diplomatic means , we can’t nation build through military intervention and if we believe that we should use our military to further human rights issues we should attack China and any county that doesn’t meet our standards.Our best hope is that , like America, someday the young will lead their country in new directions!
No real answers, just thoughts and questions. Over 60 percent of Afghans are under the age of 25 meaning they have little or no personal memories of the last time Taliban controlled the country. More than any age group in the country’s history, they’ve been exposed to more education, personal freedoms and opportunities even if it was throughout an endless war. (particularly girls and young women). The Taliban cannot “lead” most of these people, only control them through intimidation, fear and violence. Actually it’s an open question how much control the Taliban has over its own people. Will these under twenty-fives become the core of a resistance or a mass exodus? Either one is fraught with extreme danger.
Will the NGOs survive and be able to operate? They represent the only way we can reasonably contribute to and expect aid to actually reach those who need it.
Will Russia and China come around and join the international community to pressure the Taliban to moderate itself? Putin and Xi may gloat now over where the US finds itself but they’re scared of being sucked into the void. Their rhetoric can only go so far before they beg the question, what are you going to do about it? It’s hard to gauge what leverage really means when dealing with a group like the Taliban but international unity is one way to maximize it.
I think getting out was the right thing to do. I’ve read far too many critiques of the withdrawal that don’t include what the writer thinks should have happened. So we’re left with supporting the Afghans who got out (the easy part) and figuring out how to support those still left. Hopefully the country doesn’t become so sealed off to make that impossible.
All great questions. I read that the Taliban has said after the U.S. is out, they will reopen airports and Afghans who want to leave just because will be allowed to do so. But why would we believe that? And you're right: The country is a young country, demographically-speaking, and how will what we think we understand of Taliban rule fit them? Not well, I would imagine.
We can only hope to have impact through diplomatic means , we can’t nation build through military intervention and if we believe that we should use our military to further human rights issues we should attack China and any county that doesn’t meet our standards.Our best hope is that , like America, someday the young will lead their country in new directions!
This is poetry, Bernie. Thank you.
No real answers, just thoughts and questions. Over 60 percent of Afghans are under the age of 25 meaning they have little or no personal memories of the last time Taliban controlled the country. More than any age group in the country’s history, they’ve been exposed to more education, personal freedoms and opportunities even if it was throughout an endless war. (particularly girls and young women). The Taliban cannot “lead” most of these people, only control them through intimidation, fear and violence. Actually it’s an open question how much control the Taliban has over its own people. Will these under twenty-fives become the core of a resistance or a mass exodus? Either one is fraught with extreme danger.
Will the NGOs survive and be able to operate? They represent the only way we can reasonably contribute to and expect aid to actually reach those who need it.
Will Russia and China come around and join the international community to pressure the Taliban to moderate itself? Putin and Xi may gloat now over where the US finds itself but they’re scared of being sucked into the void. Their rhetoric can only go so far before they beg the question, what are you going to do about it? It’s hard to gauge what leverage really means when dealing with a group like the Taliban but international unity is one way to maximize it.
I think getting out was the right thing to do. I’ve read far too many critiques of the withdrawal that don’t include what the writer thinks should have happened. So we’re left with supporting the Afghans who got out (the easy part) and figuring out how to support those still left. Hopefully the country doesn’t become so sealed off to make that impossible.
All great questions. I read that the Taliban has said after the U.S. is out, they will reopen airports and Afghans who want to leave just because will be allowed to do so. But why would we believe that? And you're right: The country is a young country, demographically-speaking, and how will what we think we understand of Taliban rule fit them? Not well, I would imagine.
I love you, Martha.