The crisis unfolding in Afghanistan remains bleak. With an estimated 23 million Afghans—more than 50 percent of the population—still facing extreme levels of hunger, more people could die of starvation in 2022 alone than from the last 20 years of the U.S.-led occupation. While the duopoly in Washington, D.C., distracts the public with its most recent manufactured crisis in Ukraine, it is waging a far deadlier one in Afghanistan through the economic blockade the Biden administration has inhumanely imposed since last year.
To make matters worse, Biden signed an executive order on February 11 that suggests $7 billion in stolen Afghan funds may be split—without a single cent going directly to the Afghan people.
The pending order would allow 9/11 plaintiffs who won a judgment in the United States against the Taliban to seize half the funds and would funnel the rest into U.S. “aid” channels. Not only does this give money to Western non-governmental “aid” organizations that have historically functioned as weaponized forms of “humanitarian” intervention. It also furthers the false narrative that the Taliban had anything to do with the September 11, 2001 attacks, ultimately blaming the entire population of Afghanistan for actions carried out by mostly Saudi and Emirati nationals.
With a cold-blooded ruthlessness that for too long has been routine for the U.S. empire, rather than lift sanctions and actually return the billions in stolen assets—a move that would all but end the current humanitarian crises—the Biden administration has made a clear choice: Let Afghanistan starve.
In the context of this horror, the real “winner” of the war on Afghanistan could not be more obvious: The military–industrial complex. For members of this class—notably, retired top-level military officers—the war on Afghanistan was far from a failure.
For example, $10,000 of stock evenly divided among the top five “defense” contractors (Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman) on September 18, 2001—the day U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force in response to the 9/11 attacks—would now be worth almost $100,000.
As for the rest of the imperialist ruling class—organized under the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination—they are not finished. As the elites in Washington desperately attempt to maintain hegemonic control over a world in revolt, more profit has yet to be made. Despite having withdrawn from Afghanistan, Biden is predicted to propose another record breaking Pentagon budget for next year, potentially pushing the total to $800 billion in 2023.
The Pan-European, colonial-capitalist white-supremacist patriarchy is not going to go away quietly. The warhawks and imperialists of the duopoly in Washington are poised to profit even more in the coming years. As long as war remains this profitable, they will pursue it at breakneck speeds. However, that is only if they have their way with leading their waning empire headlong into wars with China and Russia. In the face of a rising counter-hegemonic resistance—both internationally and domestically—it remains to be seen if they will succeed.
For colonized, oppressed and poor people around the world, the struggle continues.
More News and Analysis
February 1, 2022 by Ahmed-Waleed Kakar for the Afghan Eye
A breakdown of the current political situation in Afghanistan, including an overview of recent policy actions taken by the Taliban government, from the founder of the Afghan Eye.
Don't Sell Me, Mama!—Selling Children to Buy Food
January 31, 2022 by RT
The dire situation in Afghanistan has landed many in debt. If they don’t get any money to pay off debts and buy food, their families will starve and freeze to death.
Horror at Kabul’s Gate to Freedom
February 8, 2022 by CNN
A multi-media investigative report inside the final deadly moments of the United States’ longest running war.
U.S.-EU Hide their Role in Afghan Hunger Crisis
February 7, 2022 by Zach Kerner for Workers World
Afghanistan is one of roughly 40 countries (and counting) that is under attack from U.S. economic sanctions, which are but one tool Washington deploys against nations that refuse to serve the imperialist ruling class.
February 18, 2022 by Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, Richard Falk, et al. for CounterPunch
Nearly nine million Afghans are on the brink of starvation. Yet, it is entirely preventable. This man-made humanitarian catastrophe is a direct result of U.S. policies.
United States Outruns Regional States in Race for Kabul
February 9, 2022 by M.K. Bhadrakumar for Asia Times
Regional states are worried that the U.S.’ nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of U.S. intelligence personnel to Afghanistan on the pretext of “counter-terrorism” operations.
West finding ways to work with the Taliban
January 28, 2022 by M.K. Bhadrakumar for Asia Times
The United States will use financial and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as an instrument in such a way that the Taliban government can remain in power without having to lean toward its neighbors.
February 15, 2022 by Lee Fang and Ryan Grim for the Intercept
The U.S. seizure of Afghan government funds has put millions at risk of starvation while lawyer and former Biden official, Lee Wolosky, is poised to make millions in payouts from the billions in stolen assets.
When Cruelty Is The Point - U.S. Decides To Kill More Afghan People
February 11, 2022 by Moon of Alabama
A user post on the Moon of Alabama site gives a breakdown of Biden’s decision to split the $7 billion in stolen assets from Afghanistan, and the devastating repercussions this will have on the Afghan people.
Biden’s $7 Billion Afghan Heist
February 18, 2022 by Cheryl Benard, Medea Benjamin and Masuda Sultan for CounterPunch
Barry Admunson, who lost his brother in 9/11 and is part of a group called 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, is advocating against Biden’s decision.
Setting Up Crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine
February 14, 2022 by Jacob Hornberger for CounterPunch
The people of Ukraine are as much pawns in the evil machinations of the U.S. national-security establishment as the people of Afghanistan.
Banner photo: A mother with her child at the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul in January. (Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times)