NZ has an obligation to rebuild Afghanistan and take thousands of refugees
Afghanistan: Taliban heaps praise on New Zealand over $3 million humanitarian donation
A Taliban representative has heaped praise on New Zealand after the Government gave $3 million in aid to organisations assisting the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi from the Taliban’s Cultural Commission spoke to Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis – a Kiwi – about New Zealand’s humanitarian profile, during the first sit-down interview with the militant group since it took back control of Afghanistan.
“I’ve recently witnessed reports that New Zealand has announced a $3 million aid, humanitarian aid, to the Afghans in this time of crisis, and we thank the generous offer of New Zealand in this time of crisis and time of need for our people, most of whom are living below the poverty line,” the Taliban representative said.
We have an obligation to raise funds to rebuild Afghanistan and take thousands in refugees.
For 20 years, we helped bomb a Bronze Age culture back to the Stone Age and called that progress.
We have helped destroy, torture and radicalize the Taliban from a force of 11 000 when we invaded to 200 000 now.
Turns out that every wedding party we bombed created 1000 new recruits.
Just because we’ve been defeated doesn’t mean our obligations stop!
We have an obligation as the invader and occupier to help rebuild what we bombed and in doing so hope we have some leverage to call on the Taliban to protect women from the harshest excesses of Islam, you know like the way we always do with the Saudi’s.
That was funny because we never tell the Saudi’s anything.
We also, whether we like it or not, have obligations to the enormous human tide of refugees.
Not just those who worked and helped us during our occupation, (the fact that so many of them have been left to fend for themselves is outrageous), no we owe them PLUS another 1000 on top those numbers.
Why?
BECAUSE WE INVADED AND OCCUPIED ANOTHER COUNTRY WHILE COMMITTING TERRIBLE VIOLENCE!
We don’t just get to brutally prop up a corrupt regime and then wipe our hands clean once we’ve been defeated!
We must pay them more reparations, take in all those who helped us PLUS 1000 refugees from a nation we mutilated.
That’s the price of our tragic military misadventure and may the cost make NZers wince so that when the war bugle gets blown again by our military industrial complex buddies, muddle Nu Zilind recoils in horror at their taxes already paying for the refugees from our last foreign policy blunder!
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media
Well said. And expect every politician and public figure who supported New Zealand’s excursions into Afghanistan, either secretly or overtly, to put their money where their mouths are, and personally contribute to the support of the tragically exploited Afghan people.
Absolutely Snow
And Bomber.
Let us all pay more tax – those of us who actually work
Sure, pay the victims of our misadventure reparations, but don’t bring them here, where they would be culturally disorientated and would add to the population overshoot NZ is already suffering.
The thousands of refugees could be a bit problematic with Maramas crouching in the wings waiting to tell them that Pakeha are bad and white people hate them, and the LGBTQ zealots have already caused problems in Afghanistan, and are busy implementing gender confusion programmes in primary schools here which concern
our own home-grown parents, and could shock conservative religious people who cherish their children and suddenly find themselves forced to tinker with their innocence, and young women parading drunk and half-naked can easily be misconstrued as an invitation to unfortunate things. We need to tidy up a bit before inviting anyone around.
Too late Snow White. Afghani’s already know the ‘white man bad’ story. How many empires have they buried, and of course, the last lot were probably the most ruthless of all so memories will be very vivid.
Presumably the Taliban won’t be rushing here so why the comment, “…. conservative religious people who cherish their children and suddenly find themselves forced to tinker with their innocence, and young women parading drunk and half-naked can easily be misconstrued as an invitation to unfortunate things.” Are you trying to say that the values of randy testosterone filled young troops and their money didn’t bring the same shit to Afghanistan as wherever else invaders have gone before?
Sure NZ needs to tidy up, but not because Afghani refugees are being invited here.
The world is awash with displaced people and refugees. Our duty is not to take these people but to stop being involved in military actions that cause this. That said we should bear some of the burden we have been party to.
AFKTT and Snow have valid points in terms of what happens when cultures meet. I would wish to see the provisions planned to make any refugees part of our society. If I were to go to Pakistan or Saudi I wouldn’t expect them to make allowance for my culture, I’d be the one making the allowances.
I am not against the idea of us contributing to the rebuild of Afghanistan but who will handle the money and how will it be spent?
If I remember correctly the previous Taliban did not allow NGOs to operate freely in the country.
If the money goes into Taliban pockets they can just spend it on paying militia patrols to make sure that no unaccompanied or unveiled females are going somewhere without a man’s permission.
Yes Martyn, we owe them that. My reservation is over refugees – Afghanistan needs Afgans to work to build their society and infrastructure; however I do acknowledge we have put a lot of people at huge risk by employing them – deserting them now would be inhumane.
I’ll happily buy a shovel for Helen Clarke to go and help with the rebuilding…
As someone said, the world is awash with refugees and this is likely to become an increasing problem. Unfortunately, these people represent a culture that is alien in every way and frankly not amenable to ready adaptation. To remove them in expectation of a better life would be cruel and thoughtless.
For centuries Afghanistan, an fiercely tribal society of mixed ethnicity, had lived under the thumb of strict Islam, hereditary chiefs and warlords. By the mid-20th century under the guidance of enlightened leaders, the country was edging into the modern world.
The arrival of a communist government supported by the Soviet Union was opposed by the traditional, conservative Muslim tribes. Predictably, they were armed and funded surreptitiously by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The Russians left in disarray.
Under the pretext that Afghanistan was harbouring the terrorists responsible for 9/11, NATO led by the United States moved into the country uninvited. Other Moslem states, in particular Saudi Arabia, provided not only funds, but fighters who morphed into theTaliban and created a headache for the US. After 20 years of attempting to meld the country into a facsimile of the United States they to left.
Working with US entities in the Middle East in the 1960s I found that they disregarded local cultures and tended to see everything through European eyes. Their defeat was predictable.
Over time, change will eventually come to that benighted country through the efforts of the people and the influence of the outside world. Aid yes, refugees no.
Why would there be any more responsibility to take refugees from Afghanistan than from anywhere else, or before the Taleban returned to power (exceptions being those who may be targeted for working with us)?
And no longer will refugees be able to leave as easily as they did from 2001-2021.
That said we can process, via visas, educated women/skilled workers for our school and hospitals etc, as we should from Hong Kong (it’s not our fault if they want to emigrate).
The aid they have been given has modernised their infrastructure already. Some of that can continue – such as rebuilding maternity hospitals they or other Islamists bombed – but why anymore than for other third world nations?
Besides China has already lined up Afghanistan for incorporation into the One Belt and Road network, part of their, China in and USA out Asian hegemony thing.
Good in theory never gonna happen. The 2014 migrant crisis destroyed the left globally, we have Brexit, Trump the rise of the marine Le Penn the afd Sweden democrats and a whole host of hard right anti immigrant parties on the verge of power. We would have gone down that road too had we taken in as many refugees as USA/EU, another round of this will push all those parties firmly into power.
20 thousand nzers on the housing nz house waiting list. We build 1500 state houses a year and we take in 1000 refugees. Our welfare and out healthcare systems are crumbling and they are not going to be fixed by any party in parliament so taking in tens of thousands of refugees is a recipe for social disaster. This is why left wing countries like Denmark don’t do it.
I’m fine with taking in refugees,new zealanders? They’ll go ape shit right now. Apeshit.
When the CCP pay reoperations for unleashing the covid on the world, we can sign off on that one