Cross-posted from FB:
I appreciate all the calls and messages of support I’ve received in the past few days. Afghanistan is at one of its lowest points and it all happened way too fast. The feeling now is one of painful disappointment, of being let down, of anger, frustration, and helplessness, but not surprise. Many have asked what I think…below is a summary of what I shared with a few friends. Would love to hear your reactions. Sorry in advance for the rather pessimistic view.
I apologize to the world, to all the victims, past and present, known and unknown. I apologize in particular to the indigenous peoples around the world whose lives were destroyed since the first contact, to the children of residential schools in Canada whose mass graves are now being discovered, to the slaves, to the colonized, to the victims of meaningless wars, to victims of massacres, to victims of racism (including south-south racism, think of foreign workers in Gulf countries as an example), to the women who face violence, to those killed in the name of Islam (and other religions)… to the planet that is over-polluted and overheating, to the animals we (ab)use, to the farmed chickens that never get to spread their wings, to all the victims of greed and ultra-materialism… and finally now to the people of Afghanistan.
I apologize because despite knowing about all of this and living in a democracy, I am not able to help enough. This sense of helplessness is driving many of us insane. Even the means of helping has become co-opted. If you don’t believe me, try sending $100 from average Joe in the West to Fatima in the East and see how much is actually delivered 
But I wanted to make this post about the current situation in Afghanistan. For those who may not know, in a nutshell, what we are witnessing is a cheap deal, to sell Afghanistan to the Pakistani-backed Taliban for a low price: you leave us alone and we will leave you alone (and who cares about the people anyway?). Remember, this is the same Taliban that the US overthrew exactly 20 years ago (after creating them and the Mujahideen in the first place during the Cold War…with support from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia... watch “Charlie Wilson’s War” the documentary if you don’t believe me). How they became friends after two decades of bloodshed (including thousands of American soldiers killed) and billions of dollars spent is a mystery (well not really for me, but that’s a different story for a different time).
Why am I sad, but not surprised? Well at a macro level, why should I believe the US (and their allies) were there for the Afghans in the first place? If they really care about things they claim to care about (human rights, women’s rights, democracy, etc.), were/are there not other places that need these gifts more than Afghanistan?!? Or if life under Taliban was really horrible, do we have evidence now to believe the Taliban have changed (and thus we are handing over the country to them)? Will they uphold the relative gains achieved in women’s conditions? Obviously not. I am not surprised because in their calculations (mainly US), this is in their best interest at this point in time...things may change in the future, just like in any game. The truth is with everything happening in the world, one has to be blind not to see that the only God today’s superpowers worship is greed. Everything else is a façade, red herring.
To focus on Afghanistan more narrowly, nobody has really been kind to this land and its people historically, neither Afghan leaders themselves nor foreign forces. In fact, all major players have caused pain and suffering. And worst of all, they have tried to justify their injustices, including the media today that tries to paint the entire country as barbaric and uncivilized based on their superficial understanding of the people or based on few bad examples (after all, this is the land of Rumi and Bidel and Rahman Baba, the land of beauty and hospitality, of kindness to strangers…the bearded extremists we see is both a small minority as well as rather new phenomenon).
The list of wrongdoers includes Brits and Russians in the 18th and 19th century, neighboring governments, near and far, flag bearers of freedom and democracy (the US and the West), Afghan warlords (or better war entrepreneurs),... and who suffers silently? The over 90% of the population who have nothing to do with any of this BS... who know nothing about the Great Game, never heard of the twin towers, did not invite OBL or the empires to their homeland, and who leave their homes every morning with one goal in mind, to bring food to their families, just like any other human being elsewhere.
As for those who asked how to help, again, sorry, but I have absolutely no faith in any of these agencies, local or international, UN included... have seen too much corruption and waste with my own eyes to trust any of them. Best you can do right now is send cash to a local individual you trust to hand deliver to the IDPs who have left other provinces and are in makeshift shelters in Kabul... I am sure the aid agencies are "planning" their support packages, will collect millions and deliver a fraction and even that, but by then, it may be too late for many of those people in real need.
Sorry for leaving on such a bleak note, but these are the sad realities of our lives these days. I would love to be convinced to be more optimistic…bring it on
Photo Credit: Shamsia Hassani
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