Afghanistan Falls

[Innula Zenovka]

‘Chaotic’ UK response criticised as Afghan babies wait for milk and donations turned away

Volunteers ‘operating blind’ about refugees’ needs, while hotels left with no staff to distribute aid

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Free]

Lindsey Graham is ‘heartbroken’ Biden ended 20-year Afghanistan war: ‘The Taliban have won the Super Bowl’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Friday criticized President Joe Biden for ending the war in Afghanistan, which dragged on for two decades.Before taking over Strom Thurmond's seat in the U.S. Senate, Graham voted for the war in Afghanistan as a member of the House of Representatives."On this 20th...

www.rawstory.com

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Friday criticized President Joe Biden for ending the war in Afghanistan, which dragged on for two decades.

Before taking over Strom Thurmond's seat in the U.S. Senate, Graham voted for the war in Afghanistan as a member of the House of Representatives.

"On this 20th anniversary, I am heartbroken and I am worried," Graham said.

Graham focused his criticism on Biden ending the war instead of the disastrous 20 year occupation.

"What have we done here in the last 30 to 45 days? We've allowed the Taliban to take back over the country by force of arms, we've abandoned thousands of people who fought along our side, and every jihadist in the world is going to run to Afghanistan because the Taliban won the Super Bowl," he argued, despite the fact the Taliban is not a National Football League team eligible to play in the big game.

Clever response there, but a more appropriate one is: The war in Afghanistan was not some fucking football game, you ridiculous fucking hayseed.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Evernote link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Taliban said ‘cover your faces or we’ll make you pay’

High up in the Hindu Kush, 100 miles north of Kabul, Bamiyan was a showpiece for the new Afghanistan.The mountain valley held rock festivals, boasted the countr

www.thetimes.co.uk

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[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Free]

I'm surprised they waited until the refugees arrived.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Afghanistan: Taliban morality police replace women's ministry

The Taliban appear to have shut the women's affairs ministry and brought back a feared morality unit.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Afghanistan: US admits Kabul drone strike killed civilians

An inquiry finds the strike, days before the US pullout, killed 10 members of a family - not militants.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Afghanistan: Girls excluded as Afghan secondary schools reopen

"Everything looks very dark," a schoolgirl tells the BBC as schools reopen for boys but not girls.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Clara D.]

I knew the "kinder, gentler Taliban" was complete and utter bullshit from day one.

A religious facist group cannot change its spots.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘The Taliban will have no mercy’: LGBTQ+ Afghans go into hiding

Gay and trans people in Afghanistan already faced stigma, but now even a call from an unknown number sparks fear

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

The Taliban are carrying out door-to-door searches to identify anyone they feel poses a threat to their “Islamic emirate”. Many LGBTQ+ people are now constantly shifting their locations and changing identities to protect themselves and their families, scared that their neighbours and extended family will report them.

Some transgender women are growing beards, while some lesbians have said they are feeling under pressure to be “more feminine”. They were previously able to maintain their identity under the guise of bacha posh, a practice in Afghanistan where a family without sons will choose a girl to live and behave as a boy, allowing them to move around more freely.

“I don’t think I can pretend to be a bacha posh any more. Taliban don’t like this. If they found out that I am a girl and lesbian it will make them angry. I am also a Hazara [minority Shia Muslims, who are often targeted by extremists], so it’s even more difficult for me. They can rape and kill me,” says Sunita, a lesbian.

Laila, a transgender woman, says her family have lost everything. “My mother was working for the women’s affairs ministry, but Taliban closed the office,” says Leila. “I am the only earning member of the family; I was a schoolteacher. Now, I do what I can to provide food and pay my rent.

“Sometimes, I can’t find work and stay hungry. I’m banned from working because my employer also fears for his life.”

Sunita says: “I accompanied my father to help with construction work but now I won’t be able to do that. My father was told to stop because people are scared that if someone complained to the Taliban that I’m a girl dressing up as a boy, everyone will be in trouble.”

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘It’s heartbreaking’: Steve McCurry on Afghan Girl, a portrait of past and present

The US photographer’s image of Sharbat Gula captured the story of a country, its people and refugees across the world. Thirty six years on, another picture tells a similar tale – but also one of hope

www.theguardian.com

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From a technical point of view, the photos are very different, yet there are striking similarities between the two Afghan girls, both physical and historical: both have intense green eyes and wear a red headscarf. Above all, despite being separated by more than 35 years, the two subjects are both refugees.

 

[danielravennest]

Meanwhile, the Taliban are now suffering terrorist attacks from the Islamic State (Afghan branch).

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘The challenge for us now is drought, not war’: livelihoods of millions of Afghans at risk

After years caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and security forces, farmers in Kandahar face a new threat, as water sources dry up

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘Necessary for security’: veteran Taliban enforcer says amputations will resume

Nooruddin Turabi, in charge of Afghan prisons, says executions and removal of hands will restart, but possibly not in public

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

 

[bubblesort]

The first big diplomatic test for the Taliban is happening right now, in New York City, at the UN general assembly meets. The UN general assembly was always scheduled to end with Afghanistan's diplomats speaking. The Taliban have followed proper channels to request that the exiled president's diplomat not be allowed to speak, and they want their diplomats to speak, instead. This request was delivered by the exiled president's diplomat. That must have been an awkward meeting. The secretary general seemed to sit on this request for a while, but now he is convening the proper committee to review the request.

https://www.theonion.com/taliban-asks-to-speak-at-un-general-assembly-1847732323

Oh wait... wrong link... sorry. Here's the right one:

Taliban ask to speak at UN General Assembly in New York

The group wants to address world leaders, weeks after ousting Afghanistan's former government.

www.bbc.com

Normally, I would say that allowing the Taliban to speak is a terrible idea, but in this case? Fuck it, I say let them speak, because we lost. No need to be sore losers. Let them humiliate our leaders diplomatically. I welcome their insults. Next election day, we need to remember this humiliating defeat, and never again elect a pathetic loser like Bush, Obama, Trump, or Biden. That's right, I blame all of those pathetic pieces of shit, who kept sacrificing good American lives for nothing. No more going to war with pathetic losers at the helm! I want to see our American leadership publicly humiliated so badly they will never again send our troops into a war they don't want to win decisively. Seriously, this situation is the best argument I can think of for bringing back the practice of putting people in public stockades. For the money we give our war machine, we should tolerate nothing less than swift, absolute victory, every single time we send our military into any conflict. I want the pentagon defunded until we sort out a way to fix why we couldn't beat a bunch of goat herders with an unlimited budget and 20 years. That won't happen unless we politically eviscerate American leadership. The Taliban can help us do that.

There are many more diplomatic approaches to this question, though. Quatar, for example urges us to not isolate Afghanistan, and to work with the Taliban, in the name of stability. Also, there's the question of their natural resources, which could fall into Russia or China's hegemony. Honestly, I think that's the real reason why we left so many military assets behind when we left, to arm the Taliban, so they can defend against Russia and China.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

That's right, I blame all of those pathetic pieces of shit, who kept sacrificing good American lives for nothing.

They were sacrificed "for nothing" only if you consider the fact that however many million Afghans were able to live under a government not controlled by the Taliban for 20 years, and however many million girls and young women were able benefit from educational and career opportunities denied them under the Taliban, and however many million Lesbian, Gay and Trans Afghans didn't have to worry about the Ministry for Vice and Virtue and so on.

You may consider those benefits to the Afghan people by no means outweighed the sacrifice of all those "good American lives" over those 20 years, but that's a different calculus. I don't think it's accurate to say those Afghan people's lives and the other benefits of not living under Taliban rule were worth "nothing" though.

They're presumably worth something to the Afghan people themselves.