The Tribune, in its editorial "After a year under Taliban rule, Afghans feel the price of peace" argues it’s OK for President Biden to withhold $7 billion in Afghan treasure from Afghanistan because the Taliban aren’t the legitimate Afghan government.
But President Biden, and his cheerleading Chicago Tribune, are in denial the Taliban whupped America fair and square. Outside of the corrupt US puppet government in Kabul, the Taliban had the support of the Afghan masses, tired of 20 years of US murder and mayhem that killed over 200,000 Afghans, destroyed their economy, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises on earth.
The Tribune supported all 20 years of America’s senseless war in Afghanistan that did nothing but turn Afghanistan into a failed state.
But once the US quit the war won by the Taliban last year, it had a chance to make amends for that 2-decade destruction of Afghanistan by supporting worldwide humanitarian efforts to assist Afghanistan’s resurrection.
Tragically for the Afghan people, a year on the Tribune now fully supports President Biden’s theft of $7 billion due the Afghan Central Bank but frozen in the US. That $7 billion is needed to alleviate the 95% of Afghanistan’s 34 million people suffering food insufficiency. Fully a third, over 10 million, face acute food shortage.
In addition, a myriad of US sanctions worsens acute food, medicine and life sustaining staples as international banks and businesses fear doing any business there to avoid incurring Uncle Sam’s wrath. They even hampered relief efforts after an earthquake killed a thousand in June.
The Taliban may well rule Afghanistan for the next millennium. Time for President Biden and the Chicago Tribune to "get over it" and begin alleviating the grotesque humanitarian crisis the US caused.
Walt Zlotow became involved in antiwar activities upon entering University of Chicago in 1963. He is current president of the West Suburban Peace Coalition based in the Chicago western suburbs. He blogs daily on antiwar and other issues at www.heartlandprogressive.blogspot.com.
Biden is withholding $7.5 billion of Afghan’s money while the people are starving.
That is called genocide.
Wash. is punishing them for winning the war and humiliating Wash. like they did to so many other empires throughout history.
When the rest of the world starts placing sanctions on the US, we will have reaped what we sowed. Unfortunately, it will be the American people who will suffer, not the American politicians.
Chicago has a big murder rate. See the stats on heyjackass.com Guess murder (war) is no biggie with the Tribune anymore.
Where are all the other big papers like WP and NYT? The nasty Tribune speaks for all of them? They sure fell low, no morals.
The Chicago Tribune is just another Washington DC propaganda publication.
Propaganda is that is all Washington has to offer, the nations honor is going down the sewer. Biden beats Trump.
We only try to save the average Afghan by killing them. First, we bombed them into oblivion and now we are starving them to death. The only thing lacking is they show no gratitude.
HOW shameful this government for all of us is. Not a shred of decency, how can this happen to a once great nation a democracy the nation was proud of.
We did not vote for so much evil, such bad people, I know I did not vote for that, I expected Biden to be a decent human being, he is not.
They are war criminals, evil people.
08/10/2022 Over 70 Economists Call for Biden Administration to Return Afghanistan’s Central Bank Reserves
The economists write that the reserves are crucial for Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), as the central bank is called, to function. And, without an operational central bank, the Afghan economy is not able to work properly, with many unable to receive salaries and the government unable to perform basic monetary duties and limited in paying for imports.
https://cepr.net/press-release/over-70-economists-call-for-biden-administration-to-return-afghanistans-central-bank-reserves/
The government doing this is one thing – I don’t know what we expect out of our foreign policy blob that sanctioned Cuba for 60 years and refused to lift it. But the media just parroting government talking points is disgusting. How are we supposed to convince other countries that freedom of the press is a good thing when we barely have it ourselves? What main newspaper out there doesn’t have 10 hawks sitting on its editorial echo chamber?