The World Food Program estimates that if nothing is done, 1 million children will die of starvation in Afghanistan over the coming winter. One million children.
Whether you believe it was right or wrong for the U.S. to be in Afghanistan in the first place, whether you believe it was the right or wrong time to pull U.S. troops out, whether you think the pullout was a disaster of our making or inevitable, the United States has some degree of responsibility for what’s happening there right now.We propped up their economy for 20 years, and now, in order to punish the Taliban, we’ve effectively shut it down. The scale of the suffering is unprecedented in modern times.
No one denies that the Taliban is a medieval, ignorant and cruel faction that has no legitimacy to rule the people of Afghanistan. And we should do what we can to isolate and expose them for what they are and pressure them to change.But none of this justifies causing the death of millions in order to punish the thousands that are the Taliban.
We need to immediately send food, heating fuel and medicine on the scale of the Berlin Airlift to Afghanistan to avert this disaster. If we don’t, if we do nothing, all of our good deeds as a nation will be forgotten. In the eyes of the world, the reputation of the United States, which has been deteriorating for some time, will be confirmed as a deserter of our friends and a traitor to our allies.
Please, don’t bring this shame down on America. We’re better than this. Please save the Afghan people from starvation.
— Andrew Smith
Anchorage
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