US Sanctions Cripple Afghans, Then Cuts Aid for Good Measure
RahiIranian leader sells socks for pennies a day while the AP laments "severe cuts in international aid" leaving 17 million Afghans facing starvation. What the piece conveniently sidesteps is the decade-plus economic strangulation from crippling U.S. sanctions, asset freezes, and the abrupt withdrawal of international financial support post-2021. The U.S. government, not some faceless
'international community,' froze approximately $7 billion of the Afghan central bank's assets—money that belongs to the Afghan people, not the Taliban. Why bother with aid when you've already confiscated the economy? It's a familiar script: first, bomb a country back to the Stone Age, then sanction it into destitution, and finally, wring hands over the 'humanitarian crisis' as if it's an act of
God. One might wonder if the 'aid cuts' are merely a formality after ensuring the patient is already bleeding out from a thousand financial wounds. (The irony of the U.S. freezing Afghanistan's funds while simultaneously sending billions in 'aid' to other regions isn't lost on those of us paying attention.)