"I fear for my Afghan sisters."
After decades of war, Afghanistan is once again in the Taliban's hands. |
President Biden has defended his decision to withdraw American troops. But "if leaving now was the right decision for America, it is a catastrophe for the Afghan people whom we have betrayed," wrote Timothy Kudo, a former Marine captain who fought in Afghanistan and is now wondering "how we could have given the best parts of our lives to such a lie." |
The Taliban's assurances that they will rule with humility and peace haven't inspired much hope. As Ashley Jackson pointed out in an essay last week, even though the group has been waiting for this moment for years, leaders of the Taliban and its fighters on the ground might not be aligned. |
Having experienced the Taliban's brutal force firsthand, Malala Yousafzai is also skeptical that the group will govern any differently now. "Like many women, I fear for my Afghan sisters," she wrote in an essay for Times Opinion. In recent years, women have been able to study and work. "I cannot imagine losing it all — going back to a life defined for me by men with guns." |
For this reason, Yousafzai urges those watching this crisis unfold to focus on what matters most. "We will have time to debate what went wrong in the war in Afghanistan, but in this critical moment we must listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls. They are asking for protection, for education, for the freedom and the future they were promised. We cannot continue to fail them. We have no time to spare." |
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