An Afghanistan update

It's a long walk from Afghanistan to Turkey

Context 

I very much want for the people of Afghanistan whatever most of them want. I presume that includes some degree of peace, reasonable stability in everyday life, some personal respect and some prosperity with some material goods in their lives. I have been looking for how the US withdrawal is playing out. All I am seeing is bad news and worse news. Where is the good news?

The New York Times writes today about a bombing:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Powerful explosions outside a high school in Afghanistan’s capital on Saturday killed at least 50 people and wounded scores more, many of them teenage girls leaving class, in a gruesome attack that underscored fears about the nation’s future after the impending American troop withdrawal. 

In recent weeks, the Taliban’s public statements have mostly been triumphal, leaving many fearing that the insurgents will try to seize power through a bloody military victory with the American and international forces gone. 

Even if some peace deal were to be reached between the Afghan government and the Taliban, something that appears less likely each day, the result would still be that the Taliban’s brand of harsh Islamist strictures, including keeping girls out of school, could again become the mainstream. 

The NYT wrote yesterday about how Afghan security forces are doing, or not doing:

KABUL — The Taliban has carried out a string of attacks near vulnerable provincial capitals across Afghanistan since May 1, a marked escalation in violence that officials say is a sign the group is testing for defensive weak points and assessing the government’s capacity to provide air support as U.S. and NATO forces withdraw.

A doctor in Helmand who watched the Taliban advance from Lashkar Gah said, “All the Taliban fighters did was stomp their feet, as if they were just kicking the dust off their boots,” before police abandoned some 10 checkpoints on the city’s edges. The doctor spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.

The Afghan Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Three days ago, the NYT wrote about the exodus of refugees from Afghanistan to avoid being caught and killed by the Taliban:

ISTANBUL, Turkey — In a derelict house in one of the oldest quarters of Istanbul, a group of Afghan migrants were welcoming new arrivals — two teenagers who had survived the perilous two-month journey on the migrant trail from Afghanistan.

“Wherever there is money and food,” said Idris, 18, in April. “Wherever we can earn money to send back to our families who are hungry, we will stay.” He and several other Afghans gave only one name, since they were in the country without documentation.

More than 200,000 Afghans were caught entering Turkey illegally in 2019, many of whom were deported back to Afghanistan.

Afghans are the lowest in the pecking order of casual laborers who fill this teeming city of 20 million. As many as 200,000 are living in Turkey, according to refugee officials.

“The Taliban were getting closer to our village. That was the main reason,” said Najibullah Qarqin, 25, who worked as an electrician for four years on U.S. bases and diplomatic compounds. “This is why I am here, because of security.”  

Afghans who worked for years on American bases in Afghanistan live in 

Turkey in fear of deportation

Clothes hanging out to dry on a burnt-out upper floor 

of a derelict building where more than 20 Afghan refugees live

-- the refugees tend to live packed into condemned housing in Istanbul

Afghan refugees' living quarters

One can only wonder how many of our former allies will be caught and killed and how many the US will take in before they are caught and killed. Maybe we will never know. Maybe all we will get is lies from our government, the Taliban and the Afghan government (as long as it lasts).