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Afghanistan is in the grips of a humanitarian crisis. In the year since the U.S. military withdrawal and the Taliban seized power, the economy has collapsed and millions are in danger of starvation. Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid says America bears some responsibility for the plight of the Afghan people due to decades of misguided strategies that created an aid-dependent state. She says it’s imperative the U.S. do more to help the Afghan people.
For two decades, administrations across aisles worked to create a tremendously aid-dependent Afghan state without seriously investing in a political infrastructure that would ensure ongoing peace. And now we’re seeing the fallout of this failure. And to those who want to focus on the problems in America — America first — I do hear you. We are all battered, exhausted, we are just wracked by fears of everything from economic insecurity to ever-escalating gun violence, and it’s easy to say, “Hey, what is happening over there is not my problem.”
All this is exacerbated by the fact that uncertainty exists with regards to how humanitarian funds will be allocated in the Taliban-ruled country, thereby disincentivizing U.S. donors to provide aid. Is engaging with the regime legitimizing it, or even directly funding it? It’s a fair question. And the answer to, “Will some of the proffered aid fall into Taliban hands” is, unfortunately, yes.
But the prevention of an even greater humanitarian catastrophe than the one that the Afghani people are facing now requires that we accept that efforts will inevitably involve some degree of liaising with the Taliban, as well as a reasonable degree of certainty that yes, some humanitarian aid — but, crucially, not all — will end up in Taliban control.
Here is a list of organizations working to provide aid to the Afghan people:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
