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Dear Editor,

A year ago Aug. 15, we gave Afghanistan back to the Taliban. We also gave something else away too.

Just before that dismal event, a young man working on my property had just come off Army duty in Afghanistan. When I asked him what we were really doing there after 20 odd years, he replied without hesitation: Guarding the minerals. So now that these minerals, needed for all this greenery that Congress has passed, are given to China or who knows who else, its our additional loss and a gain for our biggest adversary.

Its a gain too, not for us lumpen taxpayers, but for Speaker Nancy Pelosis son, Paul. Hardly an expert on minerology, he is nonetheless being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on various boards of Chinese mineral companies. I wonder why. The Chinese are rapaciously gobbling up the mineral efforts in the Congo, and reports are coming out of the harshest and cruelest treatment of the miners. Meanwhile, efforts here in the U.S. to mine for these essentials are discouraged by this administration. (Full disclosure: I own shares in a U.S. lithium mining company based in Arkansas, but so far I dont hear any calls for its support.)

So I will continue driving my 2009 Ford Fusion until we stop coddling alien efforts and encourage domestic ones like affordable hydrogen cars and geothermal heating for homes and businesses. And until that time, no super-annuated quasi-socialist senator from Vermont, or hyperventilating, squeaking congresswoman from Queens, or some neurotic teenager going around in a $15 million yacht with a diesel engine just in case, have anything to say to me.

Ann Playfair

Woodstock, N.Y.

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Letter: What we gave away in Afghanistan - The Daily Freeman

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul in August last year, after the withdrawal of U.S. troops in the country following nearly two decades of war.

Paula Bronstein. | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan is not enough to sustain its economy and more investments are needed to support the country's development, according to the United Nations.

"You can't use humanitarian relief to patch up what has been a completely collapsed economy," said Kanni Wignaraja, assistant secretary general and regional director of Asia-Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul in August last year, after the withdrawal of U.S. troops in the country following nearly two decades of war.

Wignaraja said the "massive humanitarian operation" that took place in the second half of last year after the Taliban overthrew the Afghanistan government was "very needed to save lives."

But it's a mistake to suspend investments to rebuild and develop the country, she said.

The lack of investments from the private sector and development agencies is worsening the country's humanitarian crisis and stricken economy, Wignaraja added.

She said investments are needed to revive Afghanistan's economy and its domestic market as small and micro businesses have created job opportunities for men and women in the country for decades.

"A big part of the UN and UNDP's effort is [to] jumpstart the local business sector and get that moving because Afghans will feed Afghans. They will produce their own food," she said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Tuesday.

Others such as the Red Cross have also pointed out that humanitarian work alone is not sufficient to help pull Afghanistan out of its economic rut.

"Humanitarian organizations alone cannot replace public institutions of a country of 40 million people," Robert Mardini, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Reuters on Monday.

"So we really urge states and development agencies to return to Afghanistan to support Afghans who continue to bear the brunt of economic turmoil."

State and development agencies remain reluctant to provide funds to Afghanistan unless the Taliban keeps "to their part of the bargain" allowing girls to complete high school, creating jobs for women in the workplace, and becoming a more inclusive government, Wignaraja said.

Afghanistan is "the only country in the world" where girls can't complete high school," she said.

"The dignity and the rights of women" were taken away from them when their right to work was dismissed, and it's cost an estimated billion dollar loss to the Afghan economy, she added.

More than 6,000 American lives were lost and over 100,000 Afghans were killed, during the 20-year conflict, and the U.S. spent more than $2 trillion in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistans 'collapsed economy' can't be patched up by humanitarian relief, says the UN - CNBC

When Marine Corps Maj. THOMAS SCHUEMAN fought against the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghan interpreter, Zainullah Zaki, was by his side. Zakis work for the American military went far beyond translating the language and culture for the platoonhe fought in combat and risked his life working with the Marines. But when it came to getting Zaki and his family out of Afghanistan, it was almost impossible.

For six years, Schueman fought bureaucracy to no avail. With the U.S. withdrawal last August, Zakis life was in even more peril and the need to extract him became more critical. Schueman will join us to talk about their friendship, the war in Afghanistan, and the hurdles to Zakis evacuation. The two men co-authored a new book, Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter.

But first, we talk with New York Times Afghanistan correspondent CHRISTINA GOLDBAUM about how much life has changed in the country one year after American forces messy withdrawal and the Talibans takeover.

The New York Times, Taliban Rewind the Clock: A Woman Is a Helpless and Powerless Creature A year into Taliban rule, Afghanistan has seemed to hurtle backward in time.

Task & Purpose, This Marine wasnt about to let his Afghan interpreter get captured by the Taliban -Always Faithful is a braided memoir of two lives that intersect at pivotal moments. Tom and Zak write of the chaos of their younger lives and the subsequent beauty that arose from the carnage.

View original post here:
Afghanistan and the bond between a Marine and an interpreter - WHYY

Turkish institutions continue to stand with the Afghan people, who have recently suffered heavy losses due to earthquakes and floods, with their humanitarian aid activities in Afghanistan, especially with the "Kindness Trains."

In Afghanistan, where heavy losses were experienced due to the earthquake that occurred at the end of June and the flood that followed, the survivors are clinging to life with the help of Turkish institutions.

Institutions performing aid activities in disaster areas delivered humanitarian aid to thousands of Afghan families, both routinely and with the fifth "Kindness Train".

"We aim to continue our aid with the same determination in the coming period. In this context, we are planning to distribute the materials to be brought to Afghanistan by the sixth Kindness Train service to families in need in as many provinces as possible in September, again without discrimination, taking into account the regions in need of priority." the Turkish Ambassador in Kabul Cihad Erginay said.

Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and Turkish Red Crescent (Kzlay) cooperated with the Afghan Red Crescent to deliver aid to Afghanistan's disaster areas.

In these regions, in addition to food parcels containing products such as flour, oil, various legumes, sugar, salt, pasta, tomato paste for each family, tents, blankets, carpets, diapers and feeding sets, clothes, shoes, stationery items are also provided for those whose houses are damaged. Humanitarian aid materials were distributed in many items. The aid was planned to meet the needs of each family for several months. Institutions also contribute to the Afghan economy by purchasing aid other than materials from Trkiye through the "Kindness Trains" from the Afghan market.

In this process, IHH delivered 530 tons of food aid to 5,000 families in total with the fifth "Kindness Train". About 100 kilograms of food packages were delivered to each family.

In the coming days, the charity will also deliver over 400 tons of tents, blankets, carpets, clothing, fabrics, shoes, diapers and food, as well as stationery, to those in need, again with the fifth "Kindness Train".

In addition, IHH prepared hot meals for 1000 people every day for a month in the Giyan and Bermel districts of Paktika province, which was most severely affected by the earthquake, and provided food, tents, blankets, hygiene kits, tents and cash aid to hundreds of people.

Continuing the distribution of aid to a total of 15 thousand families in 10 provinces, IHH also provides aid for the development of agriculture in Afghanistan.

Accordingly, a total of 45 tons of saffron seeds and various agricultural kits were donated to 133 farmers in Kandahar and Herat.

IHH Afghanistan Coordinator Mcahid Kl stated that saffron seed aids will be an alternative to the cultivation of agricultural products such as poppy and hemp and have the potential to distract farmers from the drug trade.

"With the new government banning the cultivation of such products (poppy and hemp), most of the farmers became unemployed. We, as IHH, decided to distribute saffron seeds, which are an alternative to such products and have a high value, to orphaned and widowed farmer families in need. Because Afghanistan saffron is all over the world. It is shown as one of the most valuable and high-quality saffron."

Kl also noted that a protocol was signed between the Afghanistan Ministry of Education and IHH last week for an education complex to be established in the capital Kabul, where 1000 orphans will be sheltered and educated, and that the construction will begin soon.

AFAD, on the other hand, delivered a total of 515 tons of humanitarian aid to 3,500 families, the majority of whom were in earthquake and flood areas, and provided tents, blankets and carpets to 1200 families who suffered severe damage.

In addition to the aid, various items of aid were also delivered to orphanages and drug treatment centers.

AFAD Afghanistan Team Coordinator Serhat Grbz told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they successfully completed a difficult process to deliver the aid.

"Despite the difficult physical conditions in earthquake and flood areas, we were able to deliver humanitarian aid materials to those in need without any problems. We were extremely happy to be a little relief for the problems of families in need. From now on, our aid will reach Afghanistan in the near future. It will continue with the sixth Kindness Train."

The Turkish Red Crescent was one of the first institutions to run to the regions where earthquakes and floods occurred. In addition to the aid that covers thousands of families in these regions, the Turkish Red Crescent provided food aid to 1000 families last week.

Turkish Red Crescent, which has provided 200 tents to the disaster victims in the said regions, will deliver food aid to 3,500 families in need in the coming days.

Farid Ahmed Ziya, head of the Turkish Red Crescent Delegation to Afghanistan, stated that 350 tons of humanitarian aid will be distributed to families in need, together with the aid they have carried out and planned recently, and that the aid will continue.

Ambassador Erginay also stated that the humanitarian aid materials that have come with five "Kindness Trains", the last of which are predominantly disaster areas, have been delivered to families in need in all provinces of the country.

He expressed that they support various institutions and women's groups in Afghanistan, adding: "We continue to carry out social support projects with the aid that comes with the fifth Kindness Train. In this context, we donate beds and wheelchairs to be used in hospitals and anti-drug clinics. Likewise, we provide support to women who earn their living from tailoring by donating sewing machines in Mazar-i-Sharif."

After the Taliban, while the world left Afghanistan materially and morally alone, Trkiye made a great contribution to alleviating the deepening humanitarian crisis.

In line with the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, more than 6,000 tons of humanitarian aid, which came with five "Kindness Trains" sent from Trkiye to Afghanistan, was delivered to hundreds of thousands of people in need, considering the large family structure in Afghanistan.

Various kinds of food items, tents, blankets, wheelchairs, sewing machines and stationery items were prepared in many items, giving hope to the needy in 34 provinces of the country.

The first "Kindness Train," which departed from Trkiye to contribute to the mitigation of the humanitarian crisis that the Afghan people were in, arrived in Afghanistan on Feb. 7 and the distribution of aid to all provinces had begun.

Aid groups describe Afghanistan's plight as one of the world's most rapidly growing humanitarian crises. According to the United Nations, half the population now faces acute hunger, over 9 million people have been displaced and millions of children are out of school.

Previously, the U.N. and its partners launched a $4.4 billion funding appeal to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan in 2022. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also warned that millions of Afghans are on the verge of death, urging the international community to release Afghanistan's frozen assets and jump-start its banking system.

The Turkish government has taken a pragmatic approach to the events in Afghanistan, including the emergence of the Taliban after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces. Underlining that new realities have emerged in the country, Ankara said it would move forward accordingly while keeping communication with all relevant leaders open.

NATO member Trkiye maintained its embassy in Afghanistan after Western countries withdrew following the Taliban takeover and have urged those countries to step up engagement. At the same time, it said it will only work fully with the Taliban if they form a more inclusive administration.

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Trkiye continues to lend helping hand to disaster-hit Afghanistan | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah

MOORHEAD In August of 2021, as Taliban fighters made their way toward Kabul, Afghanistan, officials in charge of the U.S. embassy in Kabul began planning how they would evacuate the consulate.

However, the Taliban moved faster than anyone expected and a decision was made to empty the embassy in a single day, recalled Benjamin Dille, a Moorhead native who at the time was running the administration of the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

In short order, Dille said, embassy staff were transported by helicopter to the airport in Kabul and from there flown out of the country via transport planes.

"We got all 800 of our staff out, plus their families, probably 2,000 people," Dille said, adding that although they were not able to get all of the embassy's contract staff out of the country, U.S. officials are continuing to work on helping people who remain in Afghanistan who are believed to be at risk because of their connection to the U.S. embassy.

Dille was among a number of Americans who recently received the U.S. State Departments Award for Heroism for work done at Kabul's besieged airport.

The honor, presented by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reads in part:

"For steadfast courage as core members of the leadership of the Department of State NEO (Noncombatant Evacuation Operation) team, enduring constant threats and danger to support the evacuation of over 124,000 Americans and Afghans from Kabul August 15-30, 2022."

Dille, who's worked for the U.S. Foreign Service for more than 30 years, grew up in Moorhead and graduated from Moorhead High School in 1978.

He is the son of the late Roland Dille, longtime president of what is now Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Beth Dille, who still lives in Moorhead.

Benjamin Dille is currently stationed in Turkmenistan, where he will serve as charg d'affaires for the month of August, essentially filling the role of acting ambassador.

In September, he will head to the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Virginia, where he will teach Marine Corps officers about diplomacy and statecraft.

Dille said he is grateful to both of his parents for being supportive of his early interest in all things international, and he said the Fargo-Moorhead area's education-rich environment of colleges and universities helped, too.

"I really feel I had a really rich upbringing," he said, adding that he believes the education environment in the Fargo-Moorhead area "opened the world" to him.

See the article here:
Moorhead native recognized for role in evacuating US embassy in Afghanistan - INFORUM