NOTE: This is the second letter I have received from a friend inside Afghanistan describing conditions since the Taliban takeover. Due to the circumstances, I am concealing his identity. The following is edited slightly for clarity.
"Talking to friends in Taliban's era"
Dear David:
I asked a friend of mine who is a Pashtun – a husband, father of 7 children, and living in Helmand – what plans does he have now that the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan? He said:
“The future is dark. There is no hope. I wish I could go to Iran. There is some relative work and welfare, although we don't have permission to go to the park, street, and some other places. I will never go to Pakistan. Instead of going to Pakistan, I prefer to remain in Afghanistan. Going to Pakistan is like getting out of the rain and sitting under the rainspout. There is no work in Pakistan and my kids will starve if I don't work and can't earn any money.”
Another friend who is a political activist, living in Kabul, said:
“We appreciate that the Taliban declared amnesty and have said they will allow us to live in Afghanistan, but the problem is that they don't allow any protest against their violent laws, and against heisting of our freedoms. Life is not just breathing. We must have freedom of expression, the right to criticize our government. In the absence of freedom, the elites, cadre, writers and journalists are leaving the country. Because critiquing, talking and writing is their identity and Taliban are heisting it from them. No one wants to live without an identity.”
My other friend, a columnist, said:
“Nowadays, I am very depressed. And this depression is getting worse by my dearest friends leaving. Anyone who has lived in Kabul knows that Kabul is worth nothing without friends. I have an indefinable feeling. I don't know if I should be glad because my friends have made it to a safe place, or be mournful and disappointed that they left – and I remain in this misery and poverty.”
Another friend said:
“I am heartbroken by the roar of giant airplanes in the sky of Kabul. It seems no elite and cadre will be left in a few weeks. Everyone is leaving to rescue their family and kids from this adversity and misery. We do not have to blame them. They are tired of living in uncertainty. No one knows what will happen to this ruined country. Everyone is worried and frightened about their uncertain future. I hope that everything goes well and good things will happen for our compatriots who stay in Afghanistan and for our country.”
My brother told me:
“The night of Kabul is dark, quiet and without aurora. Airplanes are flying every minute. Every flight is taking away my soul. I'm not frightened of remaining in this soulless city, but frightened because I will have no friends remaining. I am frightened of living with those people who came from the mountain to the city, that stone the eyes which looked with love upon each other, with those who flagellate the lovers in order to fulfill sharia.”
_______________________________________
( Note: Thank you, S, for your copy-editing help.)
It is obvious from these conversations that the Taliban takeover is inflicting a severe emotional toll on the educated people trapped in Afghanistan's cities.
Foreign aid efforts, including the U.S. Peace Corps, have been devoted to educating Afghans for the past 50 years and longer. Progress has been slow and difficult but millions of men and women have benefitted.
The sudden exit of the U.S. has exposed these people to attack by unschooled guerrilla fighters who have no experience with democratic ideals and principles. The hard-won rights of women to education are particularly at risk now. Earlier communication from my friend and news stories paint a picture of a society where women have retreated indoors, afraid to go out in public.
I'm publishing this in the hope that readers will forward these words to decision-makers who can marshal the will to intervene and protect Afghans from the abuses of the Taliban. International pressure is desperately needed.
***
THE HEADLINES:
* American Purpose After the Fall of Kabul -- Veterans were told we were the champions of the rights of mankind. (New Yorker)
* As of Tuesday, hundreds of young women with a special U.S. affiliation were in hiding across Kabul, waiting for news regarding when, or if, their chance at evacuation will come. They are students at the American University of Afghanistan — though by now they have destroyed documents that identify them as such for fear of discovery by the Taliban. Among all those people that U.S. officials label “vulnerable Afghans,” these AUAF women are some of the most endangered, according to sources familiar with their current situation. The Taliban has been violently mistreating women at checkpoints and, sometimes, circulating after dark in captured U.S. night-vision goggles, marking houses of suspected opponents with spray paint. Also, the Taliban on Tuesday repeated its demand that the United States stop encouraging Afghans to exit. (WP)
* Taliban tell Afghan women to stay home from work because soldiers are 'not trained' to respect them (CNN)
* All students and staff at Afghanistan's only girls' boarding school flee to Rwanda (CNN)
* Under Taliban Rule, Life in Kabul Transforms Once Again -- Though the streets are quiet, Kabul residents describe a struggle to make ends meet in a reeling economy where banks and government offices are closed, and uncertainty reigns. (NYT)
* Biden reaffirms Aug. 31 exit from Afghanistan, but orders contingency plan (WP)
* This Is What the Afghan Evacuation Looks Like on the Inside -- In the absence of American guidance, it has fallen to volunteers to figure out how to rescue Afghans scrambling for their lives. (NYT)
* Up to 1,500 Americans still seeking to leave Afghanistan, State Dept. says (WP)
* Private Rescue Efforts in Afghanistan Grow Desperate as Time Runs Out (WSJ)
* Taliban tries to ban fleeing the country, orders male officials back to work (WP)
* Budding Resistance to the Taliban Faces Long Odds -- For now, the fighters have merely two assets: a narrow valley with a history of repelling invaders and the legacy of a storied mujahedeen commander. (NYT)
* Taliban takeover could worsen coronavirus crisis as Afghan vaccinations plummet, U.N. warns (WP)
* Two members of Congress flew unannounced to the airport in Kabul in the middle of the ongoing chaotic evacuation Tuesday, stunning State Department and U.S. military personnel who had to divert resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, U.S. officials said. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) flew in on a charter aircraft and were on the ground at Kabul's airport for several hours. [AP]
* Western nations race to complete Afghan evacuation as deadline looms (Reuters)
* How Many People in Afghanistan Need to be Rescued? The Number Remains Elusive. -- U.S. officials are reluctant to provide an estimate of the one number that matters most in their stream of evacuation updates. (NYT)
* A flood of heartache: For families of U.S. troops killed in Afghan war, the scramble to exit revives their agony (WP)
* In Afghanistan, these girls climbed mountains. The Taliban takeover has them turning to Bay Area friends for help. (SF Chronicle)
* Kabul residents are running out of cash and struggling with rising prices (WP)
* Afghan pop star Aryana Sayeed details harrowing exit from her country (CNN)
* COVID vaccine protection wanes within six months - UK researchers (Reuters)
* Many Older Americans Still Aren’t Vaccinated, Making the Delta Wave Deadlier -- Compared with other highly vaccinated countries, large parts of the United States have many vulnerable seniors, helping spur hospitalization and death. (NYT)
* J&J Says Booster Prompts Strong Immune Response -- Covid-19 booster recipients showed a ninefold increase in antibody levels compared with one month after the first dose, researchers have found. (WSJ)
* People who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 are 29.2 times as likely to be hospitalized due to the coronavirus as fully vaccinated people, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study revealed. The study also found that infection rates among unvaccinated people were nearly five times those of the fully vaccinated. [HuffPost]
* In Fresno County and other counties in the valley, Covid-19 hospitalizations are rising at the fastest rates of the pandemic. (Fresno Bee)
* Toddlers Can’t Shake Pandemic Habits. Parents Are Rattled. (WSJ)
* Fire official warns massive California wildfire is ‘knocking on the door’ to Lake Tahoe area (WP)
* Through four wars, toll mounts on a Gaza neighborhood (AP)
* Many ERs Fail People Who Struggle With Addiction. These New Approaches Might Help (NPR)
* The Mississippi clinic at the center of the fight to end abortion in America (WP)
* Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory have received the green light from NASA for a mission to put two satellites into orbit around Mars, (NBC)
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