Opinion | Unfreezing the Afghan's assets only to spend it on 911-victims smacks of US hypocrisy

By Augustus K. Yeung

"The executive order US President Joe Biden signed on Friday that authorizes the United States to spend half the $7 billion in foreign exchange assets of the Afghan central bank…is shameless." (Editorial comment. China Daily. Tuesday, February 15, 2022)

Introduction

The American government has always prided itself on being the champion of the underdog: The number one nation in the world that stands up for people who are oppressed by the autocratic governments, and that humanitarianism is one of the values the US would uphold and go against on behalf of those who are being persecuted. So, they say.

This is only half-true; it was applicable when the U.S. came to the rescue of the oppressed against the Nazi Gestapo in Europe and the Imperial Japanese invaders in Asia, especially in China during World War II.

Unfortunately, however, the other half is false: Since then, the United States has been blindly imposing its own value system on countries whose political systems and cultural norms are different. They are changing it even by abuse (use of force), or by virtue of neglect.

As a latest case in point, the collapse of the former Afghan government under the tutelage of the U.S. support last August has now plunged the nation into a colossal of humanitarian crises: food shortage is one; and their healthcare systems are on the brink of collapse, etc.

Today, the tally of hurts and human sufferings can go on and on.

The following give an idea of how "unfair", "unjust" the Americans can be, not as they have boasted but as they have behaved brutally--after their twenty-year war of occupation in Afghanistan since September 11.

Afghan Former President Asked US to Give Money Back

Afghanistan's former president has called a White House order to unfreeze US$3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the United States for families of September 11 victims an "atrocity" against the people of his nation, the Associated Press reported. ("Ex-president calls US order on state assets an 'atrocity'". South China Morning Post. Tuesday, February 15, 2022)

At a packed news conference inside his sprawling compound in the capital Kabul, Hamid Karzai sought the help of Americans, particularly the families of the thousands killed in the September 11 attacks, to press the US President Joe Biden to rescind last week's order. He called it "unjust and unfair," saying Afghans were also victims of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"The people of Afghanistan share the pain of the American people, share the pain of the families and loved ones of those who died, who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11," said Karzai. "We commiserate with them (but) Afghan people are as much victims as those families who lost their lives. Withholding money or seizing money from the people of Afghanistan in their name is unjust and unfair and an atrocity against Afghan people."

Biden to Give Part of the Afghan Money to Fellow Americans

Biden's order signed last Friday freed US$7 billion in Afghan assets currently held in the United States, to be divided between September 11 victims and humanitarian aid to Afghans.

September 11 victims and their families have legal claims against the Taliban and the US$7 billion in the US banking system. The US$3.5 billion was set aside for an American court to decide whether it can be used to settle claims by families of September 11 victims. US courts would also have to sign off before the release of money for humanitarian help.

We "ask the US courts to do the opposite, to return the Afghan money back to the Afghan people," Karzai said, "This money does not belong to any government…this money belongs to the people of Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, Biden's order calls for the US$3.5 billion allocated to humanitarian aid to be put into a trust and be used to assist Afghans, bypassing their Taliban rulers.

But Karzai demanded all US$7 billion be returned to Afghanistan's central bank. He argued against giving Afghan reserves to international aid organizations.

"You give us our own money so that it can be spent for those foreigners who come here, to pay their salaries, to give it to [non-governmental organizations]," he said.

Afghanistan's Economy is Teetering on the Brink of Collapse!

Afghanistan's economy is teetering on the brink of collapse after international money stopped coming into the country with the arrival in mid-August of the Taliban. Last month, the United Nations made a US$5 billion appeal for Afghanistan.

The UN warns that 1 million children are in danger of starving and 90 per cent of Afghans live below the poverty level of just US$1.90 a day.

Anger has been growing in Afghanistan since Friday's White House announcement.

Demonstrators marched again in Kabul on Sunday demanding the money be returned. However, the Taliban, who have also condemned Biden's order, dispersed protesters as they tried to gather near city's Eid Gah mosque.

Conclusion

As the world's largest economy, and the wealthiest nation, the Biden administration is now prepared to "rob" the Afghan's money held in the American bank in an apparent attempt to get back at the new Taliban government, which has passed the U.S. investigation and has repeatedly denied any link with Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the lethal attacks that levelled the American Twin Towers in New York.

Violent as these suicidal plane attacks were, this high level of violence bears testimony to the US "atrocity" lavished on the sacred soil and its people, when seen from the perspective of the Middle-Easterners. That was the eternal grievance of Bin Laden, an Arabian patriot, who was once on America's side as they were fighting off the Russian invaders.

It turns out that the Americans "liberators" are the ultimate invaders--next in line. And now they are stealing the Afghan's assets. Is this not U.S. hypocrisy?!

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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