If You Stand With Ukraine, You Must Also Stand With Afghanistan
This article is the first in a two-part series.
Image courtesy of Andre Klimke via Unsplash
On August 31, 2021, the last American troops left Afghanistan. Although the United States and their allies had spent 20 years promising to rid the country of terrorists and promote democracy, they now withdrew as the same terrorists that President Bush declared war on after 9/11 recaptured the country. As the Taliban retook power, the freedoms the Afghan population had enjoyed for two decades such as freedom of speech and the legal empowerment of women, disappeared before their very eyes.
This disastrous withdrawal led to the country whose occupation was initially justified as the perfect example of what American intervention could bring, devolving into the least democratic country on earth. Afghanistan is now led by a terrorist government which deploys suicide bombers in its regular army and prevents women from leaving their homes without a male guardian or going to school. This state-sanctioned violence is accompanied by a horrible humanitarian crisis in which 90% of the population is experiencing food insecurity, and people are forced to sell their own organs just to buy food or heat their homes.
Despite this embarrassment to the United States and their allies–self-identified protectors of democracy and human rights–none of these nations who previously occupied Afghanistan, least of all the US, seem to care and have moved on to their next project. After Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, NATO member states shifted their focus completely. Politicians stood in solidarity with Ukraine from the beginning of the invasion and responded to Russia’s aggression with billions of dollars worth of military aid. Supporting Ukraine is touted by these leaders as a necessary cause to defend values of democracy and political freedom, with President Biden declaring that America will support Ukraine for “As long as it takes”.
To the Afghan people, rhetoric like this rings hollow, as they know all too well that the West is quick to abandon their democratic allies for the next sensationalized headline. As if to add insult to injury, the U.S. and NATO have transferred aid and equipment designated for Afghanistan to Ukraine, and Germany has evicted Afghan refugees from their homes to make room for Ukranians. The U.S. and UK have even denounced Afghans fighting back against their oppressors while praising Ukranians for doing the same thing.
As far as lawmaking, new aid contributions, and solutions, Afghanistan might as well no longer exist to Western political leaders; Ukraine is the only country that matters. From a tactical perspective, it makes sense. Supporting Ukraine directly weakens Russia by forcing them to fight a crippling, drawn-out conflict without directly fighting them. It is crucial to consider, though, that neither Ukraine nor Afghanistan exists in a vacuum, and if the U.S. and their allies want to protect their own populations and values, support for both is equally necessary.
The current U.S. policy concerning Afghanistan is focused more on containment than on the support of any specific actors. The U.S. has taken an “over the horizon” approach to security, in which surveillance and missile strikes are carried out from outside the country using satellites, planes, and drones. This strategy would supposedly neutralize any threats and prevent Afghanistan from serving as a hub for terrorism. But in August 2022, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a U.S. drone in central Kabul, where he had been living with Taliban support. While the U.S. was able to eliminate al-Zawahiri in the end, the fact that Al Qaeda, along with many other terrorist groups, has been able to establish such a stronghold in Afghanistan means the world is at risk. The United Nations echoed this sentiment in a report last year, in which they claimed that “terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom in Afghanistan than at any time in recent history.”
As for policy towards the Taliban itself, the U.S. has also failed. During negotiations of the 2020 Doha Accords, the Taliban made many promises to the US that would facilitate a full American withdrawal. One of these promises was that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for terrorists. Upon seizing power, the Taliban made further claims such as that they would respect women’s rights and create an “inclusive government” which would respect the rights of women and ethnic minorities–two groups that were severely oppressed during the last Taliban period in the 1990s and continue to be targeted by the current regime.
Despite these blatant violations of the treaty and broken promises on human rights, the Taliban government, as of late 2022, is sent $40 million a week by the U.S. and UN for humanitarian purposes despite substantial evidence that this aid is not reaching the people. The U.S. has also sought to cooperate with the Taliban on counterterrorism despite overwhelming evidence that the Taliban is supporting the same terrorists the US expects them to fight. The US’s decision to trust the Taliban is unsurprising given a similar mistake the U.S. made during their intervention in Afghanistan in which they relied on Pakistan as an ally in the region despite Pakistan serving as the primary backer of the Taliban.
This strategy of cooperation with the Taliban and refusal to take action against them in hopes that they will change is reminiscent of Regan’s failed policy of “constructive engagement” with Apartheid South Africa. Similar to their policy regarding the Taliban, the US believed that working with the Apartheid regime would encourage moderates to take power and change the system. This did not happen with South Africa and will not happen with the Taliban, who believe that they are empowered by God to impose their will on the people.
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