Afghanistan and the sanctions model against Iraq – Middle East Monitor

There are similarities between the truth of Afghanistan and the Taliban, which emerged victorious in its confrontation with a global coalition led by America, and the state of affairs of Iraq after the 1980-1988 warfare with Iran. After the Taliban victory, the US imposed sanctions on the brand new regime in Kabul in revenge for what it was unable to realize militarily. It additionally froze $10 billion held in US banks. That is the actual purpose for the financial disaster and its critical humanitarian penalties on Afghanistan and its folks, lots of whom face hunger this winter.

When the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait in 1990, the US imposed sanctions 4 days later. Though ostensibly concentrating on Saddam, they affected the Iraqi folks greater than his regime. These sanctions had been in pressure till the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq to eliminate the Iraqi dictator.

That goal was achieved, however the energy vacuum has been stuffed by Iran and its proxies. That is what’s going to occur in Afghanistan as effectively if the US maintains its sanctions and financial warfare towards the Taliban. India might also step in.

US withdraws from Afghanistan, the place is that this heading to…- Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The influence of the financial state of affairs, based on worldwide, US and Afghan indicators, is terrifying. The World Well being Organisation says that not less than 3.2 million Afghan youngsters are malnourished. By the top of the yr, a million of them will probably be on the point of demise. Individuals in cities and cities throughout Afghanistan are placing their furnishings on the road within the hope that they’ll promote it and make some cash. Medical doctors and nurses haven’t acquired their salaries for months — a tangible results of the US freezing the Afghan authorities’s property — however even with the Taliban’s current elevating of the restrict for withdrawals from native banks from $200 to $400 per thirty days, the disaster is getting worse. The outcomes could also be catastrophic.

There are literally thousands of Afghans ready on the borders with Iran and Pakistan within the hope that they may be capable of acquire refuge from the grinding poverty of the financial actuality in their very own nation. They arrive from all backgrounds, so Afghanistan is shedding precious human assets and dealing with a scarcity of individuals throughout the financial spectrum. The entire collapse of the economic system is an actual chance, the Worldwide Financial Fund has warned.

Throughout the 20 years of the US occupation of Afghanistan, the economic system was based mostly on warfare and militarisation, with worldwide support accounting for 45 per cent of the gross nationwide product. Certainly, the federal government relied on worldwide support for 75 per cent of its funds.

OPINION: The US’ navy journey in Afghanistan

Such support was focused in the direction of the well being and schooling sectors, however post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan, this has not been forthcoming. The Taliban has appealed to China, Pakistan, and Turkey to fill the funds shortfall, however none of them has responded to the regime’s pleas.

The IMF has stated that the Afghan economic system will shrink by 30 per cent this yr, whereas the UN estimates that greater than 97 per cent of the inhabitants resides beneath the poverty line. The repercussions of this can have an effect on not solely Afghanistan but additionally regional and worldwide nations. We won’t say that we’ve not been warned.

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This text first appeared in Arabi21 on 29 November 2021

The views expressed on this article belong to the creator and don’t essentially mirror the editorial coverage of Center East Monitor.