Frozen Afghan Central Bank Funds

[Synobun]

I agree with you, we have to get out and let them do what they want. Afghanistan was a disaster, I’m glad it’s over. However in this case why should we provide funding to them? We should only do this if we can control where it goes. Since we cannot, it’s better to just stop the aid. There’s Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia. They can feel free to provide money to Afghanistan.

The bank's reserves are held in the US, which are being held hostage now because of Taliban control in Afghanistan (something we all knew would happen during withdrawal). What Pakistan, Iran, China, and Russia do or don't do seems irrelevant. The money exists already and is already theirs. The US has stolen it. That we don't like who the money is going to doesn't change that it's stolen.

 

[keli]

That money was provided by the West. It’s not money earned by Afghanistan. The US also sabotaged equipment given to the Afghan armed forces for obvious reasons. You either choose the Talibans or the West. You can’t cherry pick Western aid and Talibans.

 

[keli]

Furthermore, that money was given so the elected Afghan govt can function. The regime was removed forcefully, the deal is over.

 

[aelf]

But it is not the high ups in the Taliban, who were the ones who made the decisions regarding Al Qaeda, but the poor of Afghanistan, who will starve because of the witholding of funds. I am sure not all the funds would be used for alleviating the suffering of the populous, but some would be.

The Taliban has popular support, though, which means that it has legitimacy as the government but also that the majority broadly agree with its decisions.

That said, it makes no sense to kill the people you want to help, so yeah, can't keep the money. If there was some way to ensure it would be used to help people, that would be good. But having ultraconservatives in charge is just a sure way to have bad outcomes. They're evil for a reason.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Oxfam, the Catholic Church?

Its in the nature of organisations to try and cover up misdeeds by their members/employees to protect themselves. If you have a real solution and aren't just here to beat your anti-UN drum I'd like to hear it.

i'm here to beat the anti-un drum because they're sufficiently vile that i am willing to specifically push back on using them or giving them any credibility.

throw a dart at something that isn't "un" or "taliban" and you'll probably find your money better spent on average.

it's one thing to cover up white collar crime or bribes or something. it's another thing to cover for people who rape minors. those are misdeeds, but i hold they are different in severity. at this point they probably are worse than the catholic church, though it's hard to truly grasp scale in both cases.

The West has created their so-called existential adversary, and they do everything they can to sustain it.

seems to be the case for the most part. though us doing things along these lines is much older than i am too. i wonder how much better off the would would be if the us basically did nothing abroad after ww2. i strongly suspect it's a net positive.

The Taliban, and other similar groups, are as powerful as they are because we are worth hating and we directly create the environments for them to function in.

as you say, i don't think this is by accident. it's an arrangement beneficial to both sides (or more accurately, the decision-makers on both sides, not their actual populations).

Which would you suggest?

"not giving afghanistan money" isn't a bad starting point, per above. usa isn't/shouldn't be trying to be world police or pretending it has some moral high ground. why should it be dangling financial incentives into foreign affairs w/o a clear direct benefit to usa? when was the last time us involvement in middle east was genuinely a net good?

 

[Remorseless1]

Give the money to NGOs to purchase food, medical supplies and temporary housing, and have them distribute it inside Afghanistan. Their treatment of women and Muslims who don't share the Taliban's interpretation of Islam is uncivilized to say the least.

It's an awful situation for Afghanis to be sure, but when a disaster is directly linked to government policies it makes it difficult to find reliable sources to insure the aid goes to those in need, not just supporters of the current regime.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

as mentioned above, taliban appears to have popular support. if we take that as true, there's no reason to intervene in the country so long as you consider it a sovereign government. unless you believe they're legit direct threat to us (or whatever home country is).

i'm not about to back an invasion of true conquest/annexation, so it's time to gtfo. not just with troops, with everything. if they want money so bad they can sell some of that equipment us military botched and left behind. it's not our business how a government that actually has popular support acts. we have our own problems, and they are not trivial.

 

[AmazonQueen]

"not giving afghanistan money" isn't a bad starting point, per above. usa isn't/shouldn't be trying to be world police or pretending it has some moral high ground. why should it be dangling financial incentives into foreign affairs w/o a clear direct benefit to usa? when was the last time us involvement in middle east was genuinely a net good?

Its not US money though.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Relevant
Aid shipment to Afghanistan cancelled due to Canadian anti-terrorist law

 

[Zardnaar]

Its not US money though.

Taliban didn't honor the deals made about overthrowing the government.

If they had then they cod aegure for a share of it.

I'm guessing bthe money didn't come from Afghanistan and it's was provided to the ex government which the Taliban obviously isn't.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Taliban didn't honor the deals made about overthrowing the government.

If they had then they cod aegure for a share of it.

I'm guessing bthe money didn't come from Afghanistan and it's was provided to the ex government which the Taliban obviously isn't.

The Taliban never made a deal not to overthrow the government. They only made a deal covering the terms of the US withdrawal which they honoured. Thats why Trump's peace deal was such a bad one.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I think that the deal included not hosting Al Quada which is
why they won't admit the Al Quadi leader was in Afghanistan.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I think that the deal included not hosting Al Quada which is
why they won't admit the Al Quadi leader was in Afghanistan.

Would seem strange to punish Afghanistan for that when the Al Qaida leadership spent years in Pakistan without any consequences for Pakistan

 

[EnglishEdward]

Look what has happened to foreign aid to Pakistan now that they
are no longer a supply route to western forces in Afghanistan.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Still on Afghanistan:

Aid shipment to Afghanistan cancelled due to Canadian anti-terrorist law

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/afghanistan-aid-shipment-canada-taliban-rule-anti-terrorist-law-1.6547686

Two containers of food bound for Afghanistan have been cancelled by a Canada-based aid agency because of a law banning any dealings with the Taliban.

World Vision says it has been forced to cancel a large shipment of "therapeutic food," which it said could have fed around 1,800 children.

Asuntha Charles, World Vision Afghanistan's national director, said the country is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and the shipment of food had to be cancelled because of "unnecessary restrictions."

Canada passed a law in 2013 listing the Taliban as a terrorist organization and creating penalties of up to 10 years in prison if Canadians directly or indirectly provide them with property or finances.

Aid agencies working in Afghanistan complain the law in its current form is impeding their work because they cannot help anyone who may have official dealings with what is now the Afghan government, including those paying rent or taxes.

 

[Zardnaar]

The Taliban never made a deal not to overthrow the government. They only made a deal covering the terms of the US withdrawal which they honoured. Thats why Trump's peace deal was such a bad one.

Reasonably sure there was something there about becoming part of the government and not overthrowing it.

May have rejected it but the consequences were no diplomatic recognition or access to things like the Afghanistan bank money.

If the money was collected in Afghanistan should probably be spent there maybe not by Taliban.

If it's source was the west screw them. North Korea, Russia and China abuse their money via the west.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Reasonably sure there was something there about becoming part of the government and not overthrowing it.

May have rejected it but the consequences were no diplomatic recognition or access to things like the Afghanistan bank money.

If the money was collected in Afghanistan should probably be spent there maybe not by Taliban.

If it's source was the west screw them. North Korea, Russia and China abuse their money via the west.

There was something about negotiating and an exchange of prisoners. Both of those occurred. Nothing agreed in the negotiations or stipulated in the treaty about ending the insurgency or becoming part of the government.

 

[keli]

New video from CaspianReport detailing the issue:

Does Afghanistan have a future?​

 

[REDY]

I would declare clear conditions what Afghanistan/Taliban needs to do to get money and how they should be spent.
And ensure that money will be not sent in one batch but in many years to ensure that changes will be not revoked the day after the money arrived and money will be not spent wrongly.

 

[Samson]

Contrasting pictures from the grundiad:

Independence Day: Taliban take to the streets during a national holiday celebrating the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Girls attend a class in an underground school. For most teenage girls in Afghanistan, it’s been a year since they set foot in a classroom. With no sign the ruling Taliban will allow them back to school, some girls and parents are trying to find ways to keep education from stalling for a generation of young women.