After Botched Withdrawal, 9 Million Afghans Face Death by Starvation
Americans who were incensed about Joe Biden’s willingness to abandon fellow countrymen in Afghanistan after his expedited withdrawal may find themselves with even more reason to doubt the wherewithal of the Commander in Chief now.
That’s because the foresight he lacked in regard to the capabilities of the Taliban, (or chose to ignore), have now been exacerbated by a nigh-unparalleled humanitarian crisis that could see as many as 9 million Afghan citizens perish.
“The humanitarian crisis is escalating daily in Afghanistan. Hunger in the country has reached truly unprecedented levels. Nearly 23 million people—that is 55 percent of the population—are facing extreme levels of hunger, and nearly nine million of them are at risk of famine,” said U.N. Refugee Agency spokesman Babar Baloch told Voice of America last week.
Advertisement - story continues belowTemperatures in Afghanistan have already begun to dip below freezing, with even colder temperatures still to come, a situation the U.N. warns could be dire for the over 3 million Afghans currently displaced by conflict and lack shelter, medical supplies, food, and clothes.
And the troubles have already begun.
“One single mother that I met, she has a six-month-old baby, a 12-year-old son, a 10-year-old daughter, and two parents to look after because the husband died in the fighting. So, she has to take care of the full family … Her children go hungry. So, the two kids, the 12-year-old and the 10-year-old — they have to work,” Baloch said.
Malnutrition levels across the country have soared ahead of the winter, with Baloch warning that about 1 million Afghan children are in imminent danger of death if more aid does not reach them.
Biden’s legacy had already been terribly tarnished by the Afghanistan debacle, but an unprecedented mass starvation event stemming from his hurried troop withdrawal could make his reputation unsalvageable.
