US Aid to the Taliban

Yesterday I had some workers at home, they were from Afghanistan. Two brothers who left in 1991, while they were at university in Moscow. The second wave of Afghani into London came at that time.

We spoke about their country with nostalgia, when I told them that I visited in the late 1970s, while travelling on the Magic Bus they wished that one day we could all go back. Apparently since the return of the Taliban they cannot go back home.

And then they told me that the regime is held together thanks to US aid, Washington is sending money into the country every month, they said. I confess I did not know! So I did some checking and yes they are correct, the US is the largest donor to Afghanistan.

How much money are we talking about? about 21 billion dollars since the US withdrawal.

Shocking!

Next, according to Le Monde 3,5 billion dollars belonging to the Afghan state and frozen by the US was released and transferred to the Taliban in September 2022, these money were put in the Afghan Fund set up by the US Treasury in Switzerland to "protect macro financial stability on behalf of the Afghan people." No conditions attached! Meaning the Taliban can do what they like with such funds, i.e. fund themselves. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/28/us-aid-is-still-vital-to-afghanistan_6722732_4.html#

I have noticed that Afghanistan is not mention in the presidential debate, I am sure people think the US troops left and that is that, but it is not so simple. Taxpayers money end up funding a country which has locked women into the home, a country which considers women inferior human being, a country were young girls are still sold into marriage by their parents to repay debts, were unimaginable violence is exercised upon women daily.

Now I would like to know what is so special about having a woman running for president when this very woman, as a vice-president, allows US taxpayers money to go into to such regime.

I want to find out what Americans think about this issue.

I am afraid that during my forthcoming trip I will find out that they do not care, as we in Europe do not care. I am afraid that in the US I will find confirmation of what I already tested in Europe: that racial injustice is rampant everywhere, but I am talking about a new form of injustice. This modern injustice resemble the discrimination of colonialism, we protect and respect our minorities but we do not care about their people back in their own country. Following this logic Afghan women are conveniently forgotten as long as they stay prisoner in Afghanistan.

This explain why there is such hype about a woman coming from two racial minorities running for president, this woman was born and raise in the rich West.