talebani

The United Nations head has strongly condemned a Taliban ban on Afghan women working for the organisation.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded Afghanistan’s rulers immediately revoke the order, saying it was discriminatory and breached international human rights law.

Female staff were “essential for UN operations” in the country, he said.

The Taliban have increasingly restricted women’s freedoms since seizing power in 2021.

There was no immediate word from their government on why the order had been issued. Foreign female UN workers are exempt.

The UN has been working to bring humanitarian aid to 23 million people in Afghanistan, which is reeling from a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. Female workers play a vital role in on-the-ground aid operations, particularly in identifying other women in need.

“Female staff members are essential for the United Nations operations, including in the delivery of life-saving assistance,” Secretary General Mr Guterres said in a statement.

“The enforcement of this decision will harm the Afghan people, millions of whom are in need of this assistance.”

He called on the Taliban to “reverse all measures that restrict women’s and girls’ rights to work, education and freedom of movement”.

Earlier, the UN told its Afghan staff – men and women – not to report to work while it sought clarity from the Taliban. Local women had been stopped from going to work at UN facilities in eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday.

The UN mission had been exempt from a previous Taliban ban issued in December that stopped all NGOs using women staff unless they were health workers.

How health programmes in the country will be affected by the ban on UN staff remains unclear.

The ban is being seen as the most significant test of the future of UN operations in Afghanistan, and the relationship between the organisation and the Taliban government, which is not recognised anywhere in the world.

Since the Taliban’s return to power, teenage girls and women have been barred from schools, colleges and universities. Women are required to be dressed in a way that only reveals their eyes, and must be accompanied by a male relative if they are travelling more than 72km (48 miles).

And last November, women were banned from parks, gyms and swimming pools, stripping away the simplest of freedoms.

The Taliban have also cracked down on advocates for female education. Last month, Matiullah Wesa, a prominent Afghan campaigner for female education, was arrested for unknown reasons.

In February Professor Ismail Mashal, an outspoken critic of the Taliban government’s ban on education for women, was also arrested in Kabul while handing out free books.

The Taliban have banned women from universities in Afghanistan, sparking international condemnation and despair among young people in the country.

The higher education minister announced the regression on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect.

The ban further restricts women’s education – girls have already been excluded from secondary schools since the Taliban returned last year.

Some women staged protests in the capital Kabul on Wednesday.

“Today we come out on the streets of Kabul to raise our voices against the closure of the girls’ universities,” protesters from the Afghanistan Women’s Unity and Solidarity group said.

The small demonstrations were quickly shut down by Taliban officials.

Female students have told the BBC of their anguish. “They destroyed the only bridge that could connect me with my future,” one Kabul University student said.

“How can I react? I believed that I could study and change my future or bring the light to my life but they destroyed it.”

Another student told the BBC she was a woman who had “lost everything”.

She had been studying Sharia Islamic law and argued the Taliban’s order contradicted “the rights that Islam and Allah have given us”.

“They have to go to other Islamic countries and see that their actions are not Islamic,” she told the BBC.

The United Nations and several countries have condemned the order, which takes Afghanistan back to the Taliban’s first period of rule when girls could not receive formal education.

The UN’s Special Rapporteur to Afghanistan said it was “a new low further violating the right to equal education and deepens the erasure of women from Afghan society.”

The US said such a move would “come with consequences for the Taliban”.

“The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all in Afghanistan,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.

“No country can thrive when half of its population is held back.”

Western countries have demanded all year that the Taliban improve female education if they wish to be formally recognised as Afghanistan’s government.

However in neighbouring Pakistan, the foreign minister said while he was “disappointed” by the Taliban’s decision, he still advocated engagement.

“I still think the easiest path to our goal – despite having a lot of setbacks when it comes to women’s education and other things – is through Kabul and through the interim government,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The Taliban had promised a softer rule after seizing power last year following the US’ withdrawal from the country. However the hardline Islamists have continued to roll back women’s rights and freedoms in the country.

The Taliban’s leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and his inner circle have been against modern education – particularly for girls and women.

There has been opposition to this stance from more moderate officials, and analysts say this issue has been a point of factional division all year.

Yet on Tuesday, the education ministry said its scholars had evaluated the university curriculum and environment, and attendance for girls would be suspended “until a suitable environment” was provided.

It added that it would soon provide such a setting and “citizens should not be worried”.

However in March, the Taliban had promised to re-open some high schools for girls but then cancelled the move on the day they were due to return.

The crackdown also follows a wave of new restrictions on women in recent months. In November, women were banned from parks, gyms and public baths in the capital.

A university lecturer and Afghan activist in the US said the Taliban had completed their isolation of women by suspending university for them.

“This was the last thing the Taliban could do. Afghanistan is not a country for women but instead a cage for women,” Humaira Qaderi told the BBC.

The Taliban had just three months ago allowed thousands of girls and women to sit university entrance exams in most provinces across the country.

But there were restrictions on the subjects they could apply for, with engineering, economics, veterinary science and agriculture blocked and journalism severely restricted.

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, universities had already been operating under discriminatory rules for women since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

There were gender segregated entrances and classrooms, and female students could only be taught by women professors or old men.

However, women were still getting education. Unesco noted on Tuesday that from 2001 and 2018 – the period between Taliban rule – the rate of female attendance in higher education had increased 20 times.

Several women have told the BBC they gave up after the Taliban regained rule because of “too many difficulties”.

Issue splits Taliban

Analysis by Yogita Limaye, BBC South Asia correspondent

There has been speculation for over a month now that the Taliban government would ban university education for women.

One female student predicted it a few weeks ago. “One day we will wake up and they will say girls are banned from universities,” she had said.

And so, while many Afghans might have expected that sooner or later this decision would be taken, it still comes as a shock.

Last month women were barred from parks, gyms and swimming pools. In March this year, the Taliban government did not deliver on its commitment to open secondary schools for girls.

From conversations with Taliban leaders over the past year, it is evident that there is disagreement within the Taliban on the issue of girls’ education.

Off the record, some Taliban members have repeatedly said they are hopeful and working to try and ensure girls get an education.

Girls were allowed to sit for graduation exams for secondary schools two weeks ago, in 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, even though they haven’t been allowed to be in school for more than a year.

That provided a glimmer of hope, which has now been extinguished.

The Taliban have carried out what is thought to be their first public execution since their return to power in Afghanistan last year.

A Taliban spokesperson said a man was killed at a crowded sports stadium in south-western Farah province after he confessed to murder.

Dozens of the group’s leaders, including most top ministers in their government, attended the hanging.

It comes weeks after judges were instructed to fully enforce Sharia law.

The Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued the edict last month, ordering judges to impose punishments that may include public executions, public amputations and stoning.

However, the exact crimes and corresponding punishments have not been officially defined by the Taliban.

While several public floggings have been carried out recently – including that of a dozen people before a crowded football stadium in Logar province last month – it marks the first time the Taliban have publicly acknowledged carrying out an execution.

According to their spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, the execution was attended by several Supreme Court justices, military personnel and senior ministers – including the justice, foreign and interior ministers.

Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, charged with imposing the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law as minister for vice and virtue, was also present. However, Prime Minster Hasan Akhund did not attend, the statement said.

According to the Taliban, the executed man named Tajmir, a son of Ghulam Sarwar and a resident of Herat province, had stabbed a man named Mustafa about five years ago.

He was subsequently convicted by three Taliban courts and his sentence was approved by Mullah Akhundzada.

Before the execution, a public notice was issued publicising the event and “asking all citizens to join us in the sport field”.

The murdered man’s mother told the BBC that Taliban leaders had pleaded with her to forgive the man, but she had insisted upon his execution.

“Taliban came to me and begged me to forgive this infidel,” she said. “They insist me to forgive this man in sake of God, but I told them that this man must be executed and must be buried the same as he did to my son.

“This could be a lesson to other people,” she added. “If you do not execute him he will commit other crimes in the future.”

A listener to the BBC’s Afghan radio service in Farah said his son had witnessed the execution.

“The victim was executed by the father of the man who was killed five years ago,” the man said.

During their rule from 1996-2001, the Taliban were condemned for regularly carrying out punishments in public, including executions at the national stadium in Kabul.

The Taliban vowed that they would not repeat the brutal repression of women. Since they seized power, women’s freedoms have been severely curbed and a number of women have been beaten for demanding rights.

At present, no country has recognised their new government and the World Bank has withheld around $600m (£458m), after the Taliban banned girls from returning to secondary schools.

The US has also frozen billions of dollars held by Afghanistan’s central bank in accounts around the world.

The Taliban have reversed a decision to allow Afghan girls to return to high schools, saying a ruling is still to be made on the uniforms they must wear.

Schools were set to open nationwide after months of restrictions since the Taliban seized power in August.

But the education ministry abruptly announced girls’ secondary schools would stay shut, causing confusion.

Some girls were in tears as parents and students reacted with anger and disappointment to the last-minute move.

Many had earlier talked of how happy and excited they were to be back in the classroom.

The decision came a week after the education ministry announced schools for all students, including girls, would open around the country on Wednesday.

“We inform all girls’ high schools and those schools that [have] female students above class six that they are off until the next order,” the notice said.

The notice added schools would reopen after a decision over the uniform of female students was made in accordance with “Sharia law and Afghan tradition”.

A man who did not want to be identified told the BBC his daughter had been in shock and in tears since being refused entry by Taliban officials into the school this morning.

“If anything happens to my daughter, I will not forgive the Taliban,” he said.

Activist Mahouba Seraj, founder of the Afghan Women’s Network, was bemused by the U-turn.

“The excuse they gave was ‘you don’t have the proper hijab on’. There was no ruling, they just decided this morning that the hijab was not proper, for whatever reason,” she told the BBC.

She said girls’ “school uniforms in Afghanistan are pretty covered up, always”. Secondary schools in Afghanistan are already segregated by gender.

One of the demands of the international community was for the Taliban to grant women and girls the right to education before being able to access foreign aid.

Ms Seraj said: “What I want to hear from them and see from them is for them to stand fast and say ‘okay, this is what you decided to do? Well, this is what we have decided to do: no recognition, no money. Period!'”

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said it “deplores today’s reported announcement by the Taliban”.

US diplomats said closing schools undermined confidence in Taliban commitments and assurances.

It “further dashes the hopes of families for a better future for their daughters,” US special envoy Rina Amiri tweeted.

The Taliban has said it is expanding its “food for work” programme, in which donated wheat is used to pay tens of thousands of public sector workers.

It comes as the United Nations (UN) has appealed for $4.4bn (£3.2bn) in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

The UN says the funds are needed this year as more than half the country’s population is in need.

Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian crisis has deepened since the Taliban took control in August.

The Taliban’s latest announcement underlined the financial crisis engulfing the country.

It could also raise questions among donors over the Taliban using humanitarian aid to fund their government, even as strict rules remain in place over money going into Afghanistan.

Still, some humanitarian aid has continued after the Taliban takeover as foreign governments attempt to prevent millions of people from starving.

However, the aid is meant to bypass the Afghan government and is mostly distributed by international organisations.

Now, wheat which was mostly donated by India to the previous US-backed Afghan government is being used by the Taliban to pay around 40,000 workers 10kg of wheat a day, the country’s agriculture officials said.

The programme, which had mostly been used to pay labourers in the capital Kabul, will be expanded around the country, they added.

The Taliban has already taken delivery of 18 tonnes of wheat from Pakistan with a promise of another 37 tonnes and is in talks with India over 55 tonnes more, according to Fazel Bari Fazli, the deputy minister of administration and finance at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture.

He did not say how much of the newly-donated wheat may be used to pay workers and how much would be distributed as humanitarian aid.

In recent months, the country’s finances have been hit hard by a number of major issues such as sanctions being placed on members of the Taliban, the central bank’s assets being frozen, and the suspension of foreign aid, which until last year supported the economy.

Also on Tuesday, the UN launched an appeal for $4.4bn of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

“We go into 2022 with unprecedented levels of need amongst ordinary women, men and children of Afghanistan. 24.4 million people are in humanitarian need – more than half the population,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

The UN highlighted that, on top of a series of crises the country has suffered, Afghanistan is now in the midst of one of its worst droughts in decades.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration said it would provide another $308m in humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

It brings the total amount of US aid for Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in the region to almost $782m since October.

The White House said the aid was aimed to alleviate suffering caused by the pandemic as well as “drought, malnutrition, and the winter season”.

The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York City.

A UN committee will rule on the request but it is unlikely to happen during the current session of the body.

The Taliban also nominated their Doha-based spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, as Afghanistan’s UN ambassador.

The group, which seized control of Afghanistan last month, said the envoy for the ousted government no longer represented the country.

The request to participate in the high-level debate is being considered by a credentials committee, whose nine members include the US, China and Russia, according to a UN spokesperson.

But they are unlikely to meet before the end of the General Assembly session next Monday. Until then, under UN rules, Ghulam Isaczai will remain Afghanistan’s ambassador to the global body.

He is expected to make a speech on the final day. However the Taliban said his mission “no longer represents Afghanistan”.

No government has formally recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new government and for the UN to agree to its nominee for ambassador would be an important step towards international acceptance.

The Taliban also said that several countries no longer recognised former President Ashraf Ghani as leader.

Mr Ghani abruptly left Afghanistan as Taliban militants advanced on the capital, Kabul, on 15 August. He has since taken refuge in the United Arab Emirates.

In Afghanistan itself, the last minister from the deposed government, Wahid Majrooh, has left office as public health minister after hearing that he had been replaced.

When the Taliban last controlled Afghanistan, between 1996 and 2001, the ambassador of the government they overthrew stayed on as a UN representative, after the credentials committee deferred its decision on competing claims for the position.

At the UN meeting on Tuesday, Qatar urged world leaders to stay engaged with the Taliban.

“Boycotting them would only lead to polarisation and reactions, whereas dialogue could be fruitful,” said Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar has become a key broker in Afghanistan. It hosted talks between the Taliban and US which culminated in a 2020 agreement to withdraw US-led Nato forces.

The country has helped Afghans and foreign nationals to evacuate the country since the Taliban takeover, and has facilitated recent intra-Afghan peace talks.

Investment opportunities will depend entirely on Taliban governance

Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has sparked fears of extremism, Chris Weafer, co-founder of Macro-Advisory in Moscow, wrote in a note to investors.

“Moscow’s long-standing fear of instability on its southern borders is the primary factor in its calculations with Kabul. That depends on the ability of the Central Asian nations bordering Afghanistan — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan – to defend their borders and keep radical Islamic fighters, such as ISIL, and extremist ideology, from destabilizing their own societies,” Weafer said, adding that all three border states have had previous experience of extremist attacks and fear such episodes could be repeated if either the new government in Kabul is unwilling, or unable, to contain extremist groups.

Having met regularly with Taliban leaders since 2018, Russia is well prepared to deal with the impact of regime change in Afghanistan, Weafer said. “Most recently a senior delegation visited Moscow in July. Russian officials in Afghanistan have also been engaged with the Taliban for many years. Both sides say they will work together. Moscow will also use this as an opportunity to remind the Central Asian states that it is the only real power in the region, that it has been consistent and multilateral over the past twenty years, and, via the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), provides nuclear cover for member states,” Weafer argued.

Moscow will want to work with neighboring states, Weafer wrote, arguing that Russia will not officially recognize the new government or remove the Taliban from the list of proscribed terrorist organizations until the UN Security Council does so.

“Evidence of the new pragmatism with the White House. It is confirmed that the US-NATO withdrawal was discussed at the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva. But Congress may see this as evidence of Russia collusion. The danger for Russia is that engagement with the new government, and news of the various meetings since 2018, may be interpreted as evidence of collusion by US congress. Some members may use this in support of fresh sanctions, i.e. if any fresh catalyst arises,” Weafer argued.

Investment opportunities will depend entirely on Taliban governance, Weafer wrote, adding that Afghanistan’s major investment advantage is the estimated $3 trillion worth of minerals, including rare-earth minerals, which have hardly ever been developed. This will clearly be of interest to China, although criticism of Chinese actions against the Muslim Uighurs by the Taliban will be an obstacle initially.

Turkmenistan is best placed politically, Weafer argued, reminding that the government in Ashgabat has maintained frequent and direct contacts with the Taliban and, at a February meeting, secured an agreement to allow the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) Power Interconnection projects to proceed.

Regarding Uzbekistan, Weafer said Tashkent’s hopes for greater connectivity may suffer. “Uzbekistan has been pushing for a direct transport link across Afghanistan to the Iranian port of Chabahar and to Gwadar in Pakistan. Tashkent has been dealing with the previous government rather than the Taliban. But, if the Taliban wants to develop the economy, then these routes will continue to be built, although later,” the Macro-Advisory expert wrote.

Tajikistan is most vulnerable, Weafer argued, noting that the country has the longest and most porous border with Afghanistan and is close to areas currently controlled by the more militant ISIL. Russia has 5,000 troops on the border but, still, investment risk will be higher here than for other countries.

According to Weafer, everything will depend on how the new government in Afghanistan acts and the control it can exercise. “It is far too early to be able to assess the impact on investment risk and opportunities in Afghanistan or concerning the major projects planned from neighboring states to export to Afghanistan or using the country as a conduit for, e.g. transport and power links. “All will be delayed for some time because of the suspension of funding by the World Bank and other IFIs and until the intentions and behavior of the new Kabul government are better known,” Weafer said.

Major projects in Central Asia are also dependent on what happens in Kabul, he noted. “If they are true to their word, then these projects will resume, and investment opportunities will be even more readily accessible by foreign investors and multinationals,” Weafer said, adding, “If not, then the development plans for neighboring countries in Central Asia will be negatively impacted and investment risk across the region will rise”.

The summit of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is set for September 16-17th in Dushanbe.

Nella primavera di 20 anni fa il comandante Massoud, con incontri anche al Parlamento europeo, aveva invano chiesto all’Occidente le armi necessarie per combattere il Mullah Omar, i talebani e il loro alleato: l’organizzazione terrorista guidata da Bin Laden. Ovviamente non fu ascoltato nonostante gli si riconoscesse di essere non solo un eroe ed uno stratega militare ma anche un uomo politico capace di far convivere l’Islam con le riforme. Massoud aveva progetti urbanistici, voleva che le donne non fossero più segregate ed umiliate, credeva che il suo paese dovesse essere libero ed indipendente dal terrorismo come da certi signori della guerra che anche oggi, accordandosi con gli attuali talebani, controllano parti del territorio e della coltivazione dei papaveri. Il comandante fu ucciso il 9 settembre da due terroristi, provenienti da Bruxelles che, fintisi giornalisti, riuscirono ad ottenere un’intervista e si fecero esplodere davanti a lui. Due giorni dopo vi fu l’attacco alle due torri, il tragico 11 settembre che, di riflesso, cambierà anche le nostre vite.

Vent’anni sono passati nei quali l’Occidente in Afghanistan ha speso molte vite, mezzi economici e militari per tentare di portare nel paese una parvenza di democrazia e legalità. Anche molti afgani sono morti negli attentati terroristici organizzati dai talebani mentre in tante città, non solo europee, l’Isis, il terrorismo, hanno distrutto altre centinaia di vite. Ora tutto è finito, si ritorna al passato, in molti muoiono tentando di fuggire da Kabul, molti sono giustiziati, imprigionati, torturati e le donne stanno subendo più di tutti il nuovo potere dei talebani. Vent’anni e ancora una volta un nome rappresenta, dalla valle del Panshir l’unica forma di resistenza, Massoud, il figlio dell’eroe che aveva costretto alla ritirata gli invasori sovietici, che bambino aveva visti partecipare al funerale del padre più di 100.000 persone, ha anche lui chiesto armi per difendere la propria gente, per dare una speranza di libertà all’Afghanistan. E nuovamente la risposta non c’è stata e le armi le hanno invece i talebani. La storia si ripete nella sua drammaticità e nel silenzio di quelle potenze i cui governi in parte ignorano proprio la storia ed in gran parte, per interessi geopolitici ed economici, sono disposti ad ogni indegna trattativa. Inutile nascondere la testa: in ballo ci sono interessi immensi dalle terre rare, presenti sul territorio, al commercio di droga ed armi, agli equilibri tra paesi imperialisti o che imperialisti vorrebbero diventare e non ultimo c’è il califfato, quello che è il sogno non solo di Erdogan. Le diverse etnie che compongono l’Afghanistan, uno stato nato circa 300 anni fa, hanno dimostrato più volte di non tollerare invadenze straniere sul loro territorio e, nello stesso tempo, di non riuscire, tra di loro, a trovare una strada per una convivenza civile nel rispetto dei più elementari diritti umani. Se a questo sommiamo la legge coranica interpretata in modo da schiavizzare intere popolazioni si capisce bene che seguire gli interessi economici porta su una strada diversa da quella che intraprende chi crede nel rispetto della vita e della libertà.

Certamente se il giovane Massoud continuerà nella resistenza ai talebani ci saranno scontri sanguinosi ma la libertà ha sempre un prezzo e dovranno essere gli stessi afgani a decidere se vogliono diventare un popolo ed una nazione. Massoud potrebbe essere colui che può aiutare a riunificare le diverse etnie riunendo in se parte delle qualità di Cavour, Mazzini e Garibaldi ma l’Occidente saprà aiutarlo e l’Oriente lo consentirà?

A three-member Taliban team has arrived in Kabul to begin a prisoner exchange process, agreed in the US-Taliban peace deal signed last month.

The move is likely to kick-start talks between the group and negotiators named by the Afghan government to end the 18-year war. The US-Taliban deal also sets out an exchange of 6,000 prisoners held by the Afghan government and the group.

“Our three-member technical team will help the process of prisoners’ release by identification of the prisoners, and their transportation”, a Taliban spokesman told the media on Tuesday, and added: “In this regard, they will do a kind of deal with the opposite side. Their practical work would start in coming days “.

The Taliban had previously refused to speak to the Afghan government directly. The country’s president Ashraf Ghani has been locked in a feud with his main political rival Abdullah Abdullah. Ghani last week announced his 21-member team to negotiate peace with the Taliban, but Abdullah rejected it.

The talks finally received a boost when the team was endorsed by Abdullah. “The formation of an inclusive negotiation team is an important step towards facilitating intra-Afghan negotiations”, Abdullah tweeted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the developments “good news”: “We’ve seen a team identified. Looks like it’s pretty inclusive, pretty broad. We’re happy about that”, Pompeo said.

19 anni fa, dopo i tragici attentati negli Stati Uniti, iniziò la lunga odissea in Afghanistan, la guerra voluta dagli Stati Uniti nella quale sono stati coinvolti soldati di molte nazioni tra le quali l’Italia. Gli attentati dell’11 settembre seguivano l’omicidio, avvenuto a tradimento in Afghanistan, del comandante Massoud il 9 settembre per mano di terroristi islamici provenienti dal Belgio. Massoud era stato pochi mesi prima in Europa per incontrare governi e forze politiche nella speranza di trovare aiuto per sconfiggere i talebani del mullah Omar, alleati con Osama Bid Laden, che si stavano impadronendo del paese. Al Qaeda si era già insediata in Somalia ed il progetto era di espandere la jihad nel mondo ed il regime del terrore con attentati sanguinari  Nel suo viaggio in Europa l’eroe afgano, che aveva combattuto vittorioso contro il potente esercito russo, aveva cercato ascolto anche al Parlamento europeo, ma i governi occidentali non gli fornirono le armi che gli servivano per sconfiggere i talebani e Osama Bin Laden e rimasero inascoltati i suoi avvertimenti su imminenti attacchi terroristici nel mondo. Da allora la guerra del terrore si è estesa in tutto il mondo con innumerevoli attentati che hanno segnato la vita di quasi tutte le nazioni e massacrato migliaia di innocenti mentre agli orrori di Al Qaeda si sono aggiunti quelli dell’Isis, ancor oggi non completamente sconfitto.

Ora, dopo 19 anni di conflitti, morti e stragi in Afghanistan i talebani, che ancora si rifiutano di riconoscere il governo frutto di un minimo di democrazia elettorale e continuano a rendere impossibile una vita normale a chi, uomini, bambini e in special modo donne, vorrebbe avere la libertà di studiare e di vivere serenamente, diventano interlocutori degli americani. Certo non c’è più il mullah Omar e Bin Laden è stato ucciso e sono morti migliaia di soldati e di civili e il presidente americano ha bisogno di presentarsi alle elezioni portando a casa dall’Afghanistan i soldati americani. Valeva la pena tutto quello che è accaduto? Non sarebbe bastato uccidere Bid Laden? Cosa ha significato continuare per 19 anni una guerra per fare un trattato proprio con i talebani? Dobbiamo aspettarci presto anche un accordo con gli al Shabaab somali?

Che gli Stati Uniti abbiano ormai da tempo dimostrato di non essere in grado di vincere le guerre che iniziano sotto la spinta delle case produttrici di armi e dell’irrazionalità di chi governa è noto come è purtroppo noto che la loro reazione al terrorismo è spesso inefficace e non porta risultati positivi ed è altrettanto noto il caos che hanno generato nel mondo con gli interventi in Iraq e in Libia, con la complicità francese. Noi rimaniamo dell’idea che le guerre si fanno per difendere libertà e giustizia, per sopprimere i terroristi e per difendere i civili ma il dio denaro e l’orgoglio spropositato portano invece ad errori devastanti per tutti e si traducono in vere sconfitte come l’accordo siglato in questi giorni il cui prezzo sono state le morti inutili di chi ha combattuto In Afghanistan per un mondo diverso.