Afghan Economy on the brink of collapse

Due to crippling US led European financial restrictions By Latheef Farook

Afghan economy is on the brink of collapse following the humiliating withdrawal of US forces and the takeover of the country by Taliban.  In fact Taliban was created, trained, armed and financed by America to fight Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

According to reports about 75 percent of Afghan government spending comes from foreign aid and grants. Two major aid agencies and foreign donors stopped providing aid. Added to this the reserves are frozen. The situation will be   worse if Western nations and international financial organizations withhold or withdraw foreign aid.

Experts have warned, without swift action from the international community, Afghanistan’s healthcare system too is on the verge of collapse.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have cut off finance, as the international community watching Taliban’s treatment of women and freedom to decide on recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of the country.

US and Europe soaked in the blood of millions of innocent Muslims they have killed during past quarter century wanted to judge Taliban by their human rights records. Under such circumstance Taliban’s  attacks on women demonstrators and journalists covering the event proves disaster.

Added to this UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned a humanitarian crisis was looming in Afghanistan as fuel, food and medicines run out and half the population lives in poverty. 

Meanwhile Pakistan and Qatar urged the US to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets to save the country from total economic collapse. Speaking at a joint news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said protecting the interests of the Afghan people must be a top priority.

Oil rich   Qatar has played a significant role to end the Afghan crisis peacefully. Qatar also helped Taliban to reopen Kabul airport, which was closed after US troops completed their withdrawal earlier this week. Money transfer services Western Union and MoneyGram have also reopened for business in Afghanistan.

The other two countries which could help Afghans are Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. However their   agenda were different and they are likely to take their cue from   their United States masters.

Saudi Arabia is the land of Islam. However Saudi’s autocratic tribal rulers depends on America for its survival as former US President Donald Trump said that “Saudi government can’t be in power for two weeks without US support.

Today Saudi and the UAE implement US European and Israeli agenda against Islam and democracy. For example Saudi and UAE together with Kuwait invested eleven billion dollars to topple pro Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsy in Egypt, elected in a free and fair elections for the first time in 60 years. They help install an anti-Muslim Brotherhood tyrant who serves US-European and Israel interests.

Recently Saudi and UAE got together and toppled the rising democracy in Tunisia by over throwing the democratically elected government.

The war in Yemen is America’s war. Saudi Arabia spent a fortune buying arms from America to prosecute a war that has killed almost a quarter of a million people and created the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lifetime. Two American administrations have enabled the war. 

In the five years before the war, U.S. arms transfers to Saudi Arabia amounted to $3 billion; between 2015 and 2020, the U.S. agreed to sell over $64.1 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh, averaging $10.7 billion per year. Of course there is huge commission.

Sales to   the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a rose exponentially. For example U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it is proceeding with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates

Riyadh had already frozen ties with the Taliban in 1998 over its refusal to hand over  al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who made his name fighting Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was stripped of his Saudi citizenship for attacks in the kingdom and activities against the royal family.

However many predict that “the Saudis   will eventually have to accept the Taliban (again)…They have no other option,” said a foreign diplomat in Riyadh, who insisted on anonymity.   

 On the other hand China is not likely to allow Taliban to collapse. “Afghanistan has a fairly significant deposit of rare earths, by some industry standards, is worth close to $US1 trillion ($1.3 trillion).”And this is a huge resource China wants to get its hands on.”

 “The most likely scenario is that Chinese investment will replace FDI (foreign direct investment) from the West. “That’s already happened because China, in terms of the latest data from the UN, invests close to 10 times more than the US does in Afghanistan already.”

All what Afghans need is short term assistance to tide over the immediate needs.

Now the question is where are the Muslim countries especially those oil rich Gulf countries   who by giving a helping hand could avert the potential humanitarian crisis and save the unfortunate Afghans who suffered for more than forty years, first under both Soviet occupation followed by US occupation.