People hold a banner reading ''Let us eat'' before marching on the street during a protest as the country struggles with a deep economic crisis, Kabul, December 21, 2021. /CFP
Editor's note: Bradley Blankenship is a Prague-based American journalist, political analyst and freelance reporter. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
U.S. President Joe Biden on February 11 signed an executive order that will split $7 billion in frozen U.S.-based assets from Afghanistan's central bank. Half of that money will be distributed to humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan, a country where millions are facing starvation because of economic hardship, and the other half will be granted to families of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The Biden administration claims that this is a step in the direction of allowing these frozen funds to be used for the benefit of the Afghan people, while also keeping up the teetering act of not recognizing or legitimizing the Taliban government. At the same time, the funds for 9/11 victims will be made available for the ongoing litigation from victims.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Washington's top diplomat, tweeted about the executive order, "The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan."
What's already clear from this decision from Biden is that it is wildly unpopular and will hurt the White House's reputation at home and abroad.
For the 9/11 victims, many are critical of the steps being taken now because they believe the funds should be made available for more relatives. Of course, Afghans rightly feel their money has been stolen and, finally the rest of the world will surely lose trust in the U.S. over this situation.
To be sure, 9/11 victim relatives (and first responders) do have a point on this matter. Much as it does in every such instance, the U.S. socioeconomic system has failed to properly secure these people and provide compensation, social safety nets and other means to ensure they have a satisfactory life in the aftermath of those terrible attacks.
However, this does not entitle the White House to take money from Afghanistan to compensate for America's lack of adequate social safety nets. It is textbook theft. Already this executive order has spawned protests in Afghanistan (by the people the United States stands with, apparently) because of how brazen it is.
Former President George W. Bush launched the invasion of Afghanistan on the pretense that the United States wanted to seek justice against al-Qaeda, believed to be operating in Afghanistan with its leader Osama Bin Laden, for the 9/11 attacks. But this pretense does not necessarily match reality considering the fact that the country had no role in them. Osama Bin Laden was even found in Pakistan – not Afghanistan.
Firefighters make their way through the rubble after two airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in New York bringing down the landmark buildings, September 11, 2001. /CFP
Most Americans may not even know the facts since they were swindled into believing the Bush administration's line as the war drums were beating. But context matters because this is an international issue and not a domestic political match, which is clearly how the White House is seeing it with such a petty appeal to American chauvinism on the level of Donald Trump.
As stated before, millions of Afghans are facing starvation right now because their country's economy is in shambles through no fault of their own. The United States has been meddling in Afghanistan for decades and even helped create the very organization, the Taliban, that now rules the country and they refuse to recognize as legitimate. Washington decimated the country, killed and displaced countless Afghans and morphed the local economy into being totally dependent on the invasion and occupation effort before abruptly leaving.
That is to say that the economic hardships faced by Afghanistan right now, the ones leading those millions of people to the brink of starvation, are America's fault. At the same time, the United States itself is more culpable for the 9/11 attacks than Afghanistan since it was retaliation against U.S. foreign policy that sparked the chain of events that led to the attacks in the first place.
To ameliorate both of these situations, one way or another linked to the United States, the Biden administration has decided to flagrantly violate international law by stealing assets from the Afghan people. Ironically, the Biden administration somehow perceives its actions as benevolent on this issue.
The reality could not be more different. This is such a thoroughly immoral and disgraceful situation that any person could see it for what it is, e.g., stealing from starving people. It shows the true depravity and inhumanity of the U.S. government, perhaps at an all-time low.
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