Following United States President Joe Biden’s decision to pull US troops from the military mission in Afghanistan, the Taliban took over the country resulting in the collapse of the Afghan government and the Afghan president fleeing. The Green Party of the United States reacted to the events transpiring in Afghanistan over the past few weeks by condemning militarized US foreign policy.
Taliban takeover
Following Joe Biden’s announcement that American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan from May 1st to September 11th of this year after a twenty year war, Taliban forces began launching attacks in the country. The Taliban swiftly defeated and captured numerous provinces before entering the capital city of Kabul on August 15th.
What ensued after the group’s takeover of Kabul could be called nothing short of a crisis as thousands of people rushed to Kabul international airport in the hopes of escaping. Recorded videos showed certain people clinging to planes that took off before falling to their deaths. The chances of escaping are slim for many due to commercial flights being limited despite evacuation efforts by numerous nations as reported by Al Jazeera.
True fears lie on what to expect for the future of women and girls’ rights as the Taliban now control Afghanistan. Historically, the Taliban has violated various rights such as not allowing women to attend school. Despite claims that their philosophies have changed, few believe these promises. UN reports suggest that a humanitarian crisis is on the brink of manifesting itself in Afghanistan, as executions and violations of human rights by the Taliban have been increasingly reported.
Green Party of the United States reacts
In light of the recent ongoing developements in Afghanistan, The Green Party of the United States have released a statement on their website showing their take on the events at hand labeling the situation “incompetent foreign policy“. The party blames the Washington foreign policy establishment, also known as the military-industrial complex for the collapse of government in Afghanistan. The party labelled this “pro-war” establishment as “malignant and incompetent“.
The current situation is the result of many years of illegal US attempts to gain control over a country strategically located in Asia. In violation of international, humanitarian and US law, the public was intentionally deceived by elected officials from both the Democratic and Republican parties that it was necessary to invade, occupy and bomb Afghanistan.
Madelyn Hoffman, Co-Chair of the Green Party of the US Peace Action Committee. Displayed on the the Party’s website.
Furthermore, the same statement reinstated that the Green Party of the US, unlike both Republicans and Democrats, opposes the militarization of US foreign Policy. They call on numerous actions such as substantial cuts to the United States military budget.
The Party urges the necessity of breaking the power of the military-industrial complex over US foreign policy to avoid future unnecessary wars. Currently, all focus should shift to helping the vast amounts of people trying to flee Afghanistan.
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