The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan will cost humanity greatly – Orange County Register

For years the Americans hoped we could end the endless war in Afghanistan in the name of peace and prosperity. Four US presidents later, this expectation never materialized. As American forces began to withdraw, Taliban forces returned to power in the capital, Kabul, on August 15, overthrowing the government and shedding even more blood on the streets of Kabul. Thousands of Afghans have been displaced and many who have helped us fear for their lives.

The war in Afghanistan is far from over. Thanks to the botched evacuation efforts of the Biden government, the Taliban are now able to do direct harm to the Americans and their allies by accessing the tools and resources we left there. In addition, they can use their newfound power to create new connections with our adversaries, especially China. As a result, it is becoming more expensive than ever for humanity to have the Taliban in power.

One aspect that has so far been played down in the media is the Taliban’s access to NATO’s digital information in Afghanistan. While the American armed forces and diplomats destroyed their sensitive data on Afghans, many data centers across Kabul are available for exploitation. For example, the Taliban confiscated US military biometric devices containing iris scans and fingerprints of Afghan citizens that can now be used to track down those who helped the US and NATO forces.

According to Politico, “Telecommunications companies keep tons of records of who Afghan users have called and where they have been. Government databases contain records of foreign funded projects and related personnel records. And with a lot of biometric data like fingerprints, people can be easily identified. “Thomas Warrick, a former counter-terrorism officer for the Department of Homeland Security, also stated,” There is almost no doubt that you have got your hands on a tremendously valuable body of information about what to do with it. that they can take advantage of in their free time. ”The Taliban could also market the sensitive data about US interests and allies and sell it to China, our greatest adversary.

American politicians have argued that Afghanistan is a sovereign nation and should defend itself against its enemies. Unfortunately, they do not understand the nature of the conflict between Pashtuns and other ethnic groups and try to fit it into their worldview. The Taliban did not build Afghanistan’s economy or civil society when it was in power. After the Soviet troops left Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, the Islamic Taliban faction of the Pashtun tribes took control of southern Afghanistan and Kabul. They started with rigid codes of conduct among Afghan citizens and prevented women and girls from getting a place in society. Women were not allowed to have a career or go to school. Medical care was not available to them. They had to cover their bodies from head to toe. Before the US invasion of Afghanistan and the collapse of the Taliban, they financed their military efforts through drug trafficking and became the world’s largest producer of opium.

I remember my childhood in Iran when the Afghan refugee crisis began in the early 2000s. Millions of Afghans who sought refuge in Iran struggled hard for a stable life. Many of them were never able to return to their homeland and had lost touch with loved ones.

Political commentator Brad Polumbo recently argued in an article for the Foundation for Economic Education that “it would be a win-win situation for the US for both Afghans fleeing tyranny and the US economy,” if the US took in Afghan refugees.

While Polumbo is right to open our doors to those in need of humanitarian aid in these turbulent times, this is far from a win-win situation for the Afghan people. They lost their homes to a theocentric terrorist group because of our failed efforts to mitigate the effects of the withdrawal.

Many have lost friends and family members through this violent and chaotic transition. We must not forget those who are still in Afghanistan and who will no longer lead the same life under the rule of the Taliban.

On August 24th, Biden discussed further humanitarian aid for Afghanistan after the evacuation. However, this is another virtue signaled on behalf of the administration that will be impossible to fulfill. All humanitarian aid will end up in the hands of those who kill and oppress the Afghans in the first place.

Now governments around the world face another practical and moral dilemma when it comes to dealing with a nation in the hands of a group that has no interest in protecting its citizens or respecting human rights. Will we trade, negotiate and accept the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, or will we face the bitter reality that yet another terrorist group has an entire territory to inhabit? Unfortunately, the way forward won’t be a cookie cutter.

For now, aside from direct conflict, Biden remains the only way to contain the Taliban’s regional and international threats, to deter the governments that finance and support the Taliban and who benefit most from its power.

Tahmineh Dehbozorgi is a columnist for the Southern California News Group and a student at George Washington University’s Law School. You can follow her on Twitter @DeTahmineh.