US Evicts Afghan Refugees After Two Decades, Calls It 'Orderly Departure'
The US government, after spending two decades and trillions of dollars 'stabilizing' Afghanistan, has apparently decided it's time to consolidate its refugee program. Bloomberg notes the 'outcry from congressional Democrats and nongovernmental organizations' over the plan to close the Qatar camp. But these are the same lawmakers who rubber-stamped funding for the initial invasion and subsequent
occupation, never truly accounting for the human cost of their 'strategic interests.' It's a curious conclusion to a two-decade conflict: invade a country, destabilize it beyond repair, then, two years after a hasty withdrawal, evict the very refugees your war created into an ill-defined 'other countries' program. Perhaps the State Department believes enough time has passed that the world has
forgotten who created this refugee crisis, much like we're expected to forget the 134,000 to 169,000 Afghan civilians estimated to have died directly due to our 'liberation efforts.' (Cost of War Project, Brown University, 2021). The historical amnesia required for this kind of politeness is truly astounding.