Public Comment

Since the Taliban drove out the Americans and took control of Afghanistan, the country has faced a monumental humanitarian crisis leaving half of the population experiencing acute hunger. The U.N. Refugee Agency reported a staggering 3.4 million Afghans are internally displaced. The country’s healthcare system is experiencing chronic shortages. The new generation of children are bereft of the most basic education while workers in schools and hospitals are going without salaries while facing rising food and energy costs. Many attribute the dire situation to cruel economic restrictions the Biden administration implemented while diverting $billions to families of the 9/11 victims. Many 9/11 families have condemned Biden's decisions and attributed his actions to pandering to domestic policies. 

The New York Times Magazine Afghanistan journalist Matthieu Aikins, formerly based in Kabul, went undercover with Afghan refugees to write his book, “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water,” following his amazing journey crossing borders to the West. It’s very stark, the difference in treatment between the vast majority of refugees who need smugglers to escape and what’s happening in Ukraine right now. He posed the question, who does the West consider worthy of saving? 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, visited the Afghan capital of Kabul and urged the international community not to neglect Afghanistan. When the entire attention of the world is focused on Ukraine, it is important that other situations should not be ignored. As former Secretary of State, General Powell reminded the U. S. government, following the debacle of Iraq, “the US must take ownership the fallout of its invasions.”  

Sadly, Iraq was abandoned following the death of thousands of Iraqis and destruction of much of their country. Let us hope the Biden administration does not abandon the people of Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen while its attention is focused on Ukraine.