What if, for some strange reason, we don't want to use that $40 billion to help our own people right here at home, one out of nine of whom is officially poor, some of whom are actually starving? While the inclination to shovel money at other countries while so many of our own citizens are suffering is nearly impossible to understand, some people (the president, several hundred members of Congress) have such a mindset, and therefore must be addressed.
If we're looking for a country in dire need of, and richly deserving of, $40 billion, we need look no further than Afghanistan.
Afghanistan, which the U.S. brutally occupied for 20 years after invading without just cause, is suffering from the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. Half its population, 20 million people, is suffering from "acute hunger," according to the United Nations.
The nation collapsed because the U.S. pulled the plug on the economy when it withdrew, imposed draconian economic sanctions in a fit of spiteful pique, and seized $7 billion in Afghanistan government funds. Biden has promised a little aid, though none has shown up in Kabul.
From the Intercept: "A senior Democratic foreign policy aide, who was granted anonymity to openly share his thoughts on the Biden administration's actions, said the policy 'effectively amounts to mass murder' According to the aide, Biden 'has had warnings from the UN Secretary General, the International Rescue Committee, and the Red Cross, with a unanimous consensus that the liquidity of the central bank is of paramount importance, and no amount of aid can compensate for the destruction of Afghanistan's financial system and the whole macro economy.'"
Democrats recently joined Republicans, to vote no on a modest proposal to study the effect of U.S. sanctions against the Afghan people.
Then again, we really do need that COVID money.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
2
2
