Military contracting "obscures where and how taxpayer money flows," and "makes it difficult to know how many people are employed, injured, and killed," said the Costs of War Project report's author.
There is an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis as the Taliban, divided and without a strategy, rely on edicts against women and repression. Afghans want change: ‘They are doing terrible things ... Do we leave things as they are?’
"If the Afghan economy is not resuscitated, the severity of the current humanitarian crisis will only deepen, with dire consequences for life and limb of ordinary Afghans," warned one aid group.
The US 20-year war and occupation in Afghanistan, waged to avenge the September 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, has taken the lives of more than 71,000 Afghani and Pakistani civilians.
"I can't think of a worse betrayal of the people of Afghanistan than to freeze their assets and give it to 9/11 families," said one person whose brother was killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Washington and its allies have argued that sanctions are a necessary response to Taliban human rights abuses. But it’s the people, especially the poorest, who pay the price. How many women and girls should be sacrificed to punish the Taliban?
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