Afghanistan is on the brink of famine

[luv2fly]

Afghanistan is on the brink of famine. How can Biden just forget about us?
Selay Ghaffar

People are fleeing in search of food, freedom and safety resulting from the economic and humanitarian catastrophe caused by 20 years of US occupation

Sat 5 Mar 2022 06.17 EST

In my home country of Afghanistan, winter is harsh and children are hungry. Almost every parent faces the torture of not having enough food to feed their families. Across the country, 5 million children are on the brink of famine. Many young people are in despair; suicide is on the rise.

The rapid escalation of war in Ukraine is set to make this crisis even worse. We fear now that soaring prices of wheat – reaching their highest level since 2008 as a result of the invasion – could multiply the impact of a famine in Afghanistan.

The United Nations has seen the scale of our misery, launching its largest-ever appeal for funds for a country: $4.4bn. But rather than heed this appeal, Joe Biden has decided to claim our money at the moment of our greatest need.

Last year I was forced into exile for my political activism and advocacy of women’s rights as the Taliban took control of the country. Looking on from afar, I could not believe how quickly our country faded from the news, how quickly our suffering ceased to concern even the critics of “endless war” in Afghanistan.

More at

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/05/famine-afghanistan-joe-biden-reparations

[secondwind]

1. Didn't Biden declare 308 million for Afghanistan in January ???

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[The Jungle 1]

3. We paid for trained and built your army.

You stood down in 11 days. YOU did not fight for your country.

[XanaDUer2]

5. 20 years nt

[stopdiggin]

4. I agree that humanitarian aid should be flowing

And I think to some extent it is (including from some U.S. sources). On the other hand - this op-ed paints the problems in Afghanistan as almost exclusively the result of Joe Biden 'stealing' from the Afghan people - and almost no mention at all of the Taliban (or any other player involved, many whom have also frozen funds and scaled back aid as a result of the Taliban takeover, and the onerous incompetent government it put in place). It is a laughably shallow and slanted screed couched in terms to garner sympathy, and avoid responsibility - without the slightest hint of any recognition for what some of the real problems in the country stem from. Like generations of greedy kleptocratic corruption (see frozen funds), and an economy essentially based on foreign aid (and that same corruption).

Nobody likes hunger or starving children - but this catastrophe has been predicted for months and months (incidentally having almost nothing to do with Ukrainian invasion) - and the idea that Biden can 'fix' this situation by simply unfreezing some funds, and suddenly Afghan children are going to be fed ... Calling it simplistic is frankly too kind. It's insulting.

[XanaDUer2]

6. K and R nt

[XanaDUer2]

7. Kick nt