It is destroying the country's economy
America's sanctions on Afghanistan are more deadly than 20 years of war
The Biden administration can remove this error with just the stroke of a pen.
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Afghan children suffer from malnutrition and even death as a result of sanctions.
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The Taliban will not make concessions in the face of sanctions.
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In recent years, US economic sanctions have become one of the most important tools of US foreign policy, and about 20 countries are now subject to numerous US sanctions.
But if more Americans know how many innocent civilians die as a result of these sanctions, will the disadvantages of these sanctions be allowed?
We may be about to find out in Afghanistan, as the sanctions now imposed on this country are on their way to killing more civilians in the coming years than in 20 years of war, and there is no longer any way to hide what is going on there.
One million children will suffer from malnutrition
Projections indicate that about 22.8 million people will face a high level of acute food insecurity this winter, and this number constitutes 55% of the population of Afghanistan, the highest percentage recorded in this country.
It is estimated that about one million children will suffer from “severe malnutrition” this year, and there is a high probability that children who suffer from malnutrition, can die as a result of multiple diseases, even after they are able to obtain the necessary vaccinations and nutrients necessary for their survival, Currently, 98% of the Afghan population does not get enough food, according to the statistics of the United Nations Food Program.
Billions of dollars confiscated
The largest and most destructive of these sanctions facing Afghanistan at the present time is the confiscation of about seven billion of state assets in the Federal Reserve of the United States, which is equivalent to half of Afghanistan's economy, and about the state's imports for 18 months, which include food, medicine, and infrastructure needs that characterize of vital importance to public health.
But it turned out that the effects of this loss on the assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan are more deadly than the loss of the necessary imports, and these assets that were confiscated are in dollars, and it is known that countries need this global reserve in hard currency, to maintain the economy and a stable financial system in the country, and I mentioned Reports and the International Monetary Fund that since the reserves were frozen, this led to a shortage of financial liquidity in addition to a loss in banking services, which resulted in paralyzing the movement of Afghan banks.
disastrous results
News reports on the ground described the catastrophic human costs of the disruption caused by the loss of these reserves, desperate mothers in poverty searching for medicine for their emaciated children, an increasing number of people living without income, farmers abandoning work on their land, and the currency declining. In Afghanistan, by 25% since last August, which has raised the prices of foodstuffs and essential commodities to levels that exceed the ability of many to purchase in this poorest country in the continent of Asia.
Banks imposed a limit on cash withdrawals of no more than $400, as well as restrictions that made companies unable to meet their payroll, which pushed many people to become unemployed and starving.
Sanctions Supporters' Opinion
Sanctions advocates, in the US government and elsewhere, have responded to this proposition that those people who are starving or unemployed as a result of sanctions can be helped with international aid.
But it is clear that the logic of destroying a country's economy and then trying to save people by providing aid will not succeed, and aid will not solve a small part of the country's losses to its income, which the International Monetary Fund estimates will drop dramatically and unprecedentedly, up to 30% in the coming months.
There are huge difficulties in transferring aid, as the banking system suffers from a disability, and international banks and even aid groups refuse to risk participating in the transfer of funds, and there are major problems with transportation, in addition to other necessary services as a result of sanctions and the economic downturn.
Washington and its allies see sanctions as necessary in response to the Taliban's abuse of human rights, including the oppression of women, but ordinary people, especially the poor, are paying the price. Who are the hundreds or thousands of women and girls who must be sacrificed in order to punish the Taliban?
Innocent people will pay the price
Western governments led by the United States, as they have been during 20 years of war, will not get any concessions from the Taliban by destroying the Afghan economy.
But the greater price will be paid by millions of innocent people, many of whom will die, as a result of the great decline in food and health care, unemployment, and reduced income.
And it seems that members of Congress are starting to retreat from their position, as about 48 members sent a letter to President Joe Biden last December, indicating that “the United States’ confiscation of nine billion dollars in Afghanistan’s hard currency reserves is leading to the decline of the country in a deep pit of economic and humanitarian crises.” ».
This collective punishment is grotesquely wrong and immoral, and the Biden administration can remove the biggest contributor to this mistake with just a stroke of a pen, and it must do so immediately before it is too late.
• 98% of the population of Afghanistan does not get enough food, according to United Nations statistics.
The logic of destroying a country's economy and then trying to save people by providing aid will not succeed, and aid will not solve a small part of the country's loss of income, which the International Monetary Fund estimates will drop dramatically and unprecedentedly, up to 30% in the coming months.
• The biggest and most destructive sanctions facing Afghanistan at the present time is the confiscation of about seven billion of state assets in the Federal Reserve of the United States.
Mark Weisbrot ■ American writer and economist
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