It has been over 100 days since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and reinstated their oppressive, theocratic, and totalitarian regime. Once seen as a promising chance for a free and democratic society in central Asia - in a land that had been torn by war and conflict for generations - Afghanistan is now once again controlled by an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group with one of the worst human rights records in recorded human history.
Since seizing power in August for the first time in 20 years, the Taliban-backed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has demonstrated to the entire world that absolutely nothing has changed in the two decades since they were first in power. Mass executions of prisoners of war, political dissidents, former government officials, religious opponents, and even children - children - have become routine in the new Taliban regime.
Elections have been effectively abolished, with Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada now ruling as "leader for life" of the Islamic Emirate. Women have been forced to quit their jobs, leave school, and cover their entire bodies. Afghans who held key positions in the old Islamic Republic, and who helped US soldiers and coalition officials during the 20-year-war, have been targeted for beatings, imprisonment without trial, forced disappearances, or even murder by the Taliban's secret police, known officially as the "General Directorate of Intelligence", who have wide authority and act with virtual impunity.
And worst of all, the Taliban has resumed targeting ethnic Hazara and Uzbek minorities in Afghanistan for harassment, persecution, and even mass extermination. A silent campaign of mass ethnic cleansing has once again resumed in Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban - except now, nobody will come to stop it.
All of this - this endless list of maladies, atrocities, and horrific human rights abuses - has been enabled by the repugnant isolationist policies of the Biden Administration. When I voted for Joe Biden in 2020, I had hoped that his foreign policy would be a departure from four years of an isolationist, ultranationalist approach characteristic of the Trump Administration. I had hoped that we would once again have sensible liberal internationalists and liberal hawks in the White House who would stand up for human rights and challenge the forces of inhumanity and evil.
As it turns out, my expectations were nothing more than an idealistic dream - products of a sense of hope that blinded me from realizing what the incoming administration truly was. Oh, don't get me wrong, Joe Biden is undoubtedly an improvement over Donald Trump. Donald Trump was, and still is, an existential threat to American democracy as we knew it - and we should be glad he is out of office.
But in terms of foreign policy and interventionism? Oh no, they are the exact same kind of non-interventionist cockroach - mindlessly spewing tired populist talking points, whining about "forever wars" and "regime change", negotiating with violent terrorists and tyrants in the name of "peace", and showing absolutely zero regard, concern, or care for the lives of millions of innocent people who are now condemned to live under the reign of one of the most barbaric regimes in human history.
Joe Biden's foreign policy has forever ruined America's reputation on the world stage, and, tragically, I believe the times of humanitarian interventionism and liberal internationalism are effectively over. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have been taken over in a silent coup by populists and isolationists, who have corrupted American political discourse with poisonous "anti-war" rhetoric that would freely enable the enemies of humanity to commit atrocities with absolute impunity.
The time when the world could rely on America to stand up for human rights and punish those who violated human rights is over - probably for good. But there may still be hope for Afghanistan yet. Since the Taliban regained power in August, a coalition of militias has continued the fight against tyranny from Panjshir Province - a small, relatively impassable region in Afghanistan which has long been a bastion of resistance against the Taliban.
Ahmad Massoud, the son of the legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud (who once led the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance resistance front in the 1990s), has followed in his father's footsteps and established the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan - a coalition of former government soldiers, volunteers, and freedom fighters dedicated to continuing the fight against the Islamic Emirate. They are vastly outnumbered, but their resolve is unbreakable. Ever since August, the NRF has heroically stood as a bulwark against the Taliban regime, with over 1,000 resistance fighters giving their lives to defend their freedom and way of life in the face of unrelenting evil.
These resistance fighters - many of whom are young men who were born after the Taliban had been toppled in 2001 - are some of the bravest and most heroic people alive today. Even when Afghanistan has been abandoned and forgotten by the rest of the world, these courageous men and women have taken it upon themselves to continue the struggle for freedom and democracy - so that one day they may live in a society rid of the Taliban and the oppressive Islamic Emirate.
We owe it to the NRF and their more than 8,000-strong resistance force to support them with everything we've got. And I already know that Joe Biden will never agree to do this. Joe Biden's heinous betrayal of the Afghan people has already exposed his administration for what it is - a pitiful collection of cynical, feckless cowards who have sold their souls - and the lives of over 40 million innocent people - to the false idols of populism and isolationism.
But I refuse to accept this as the new norm. If our government will forego its responsibilities on the global stage, then it leaves us as individuals to make a difference in the world. The NRF is in a fight for their lives right now, and they need every bit of assistance that we can give them.
Through the Massoud Foundation, the Panjshir Resistance is accepting donations that will be used to provide fleeing Afghans with food, medicine, and shelter in rebel-held areas, build renewable energy generators to support resistance fighters, purchase communication equipment that can bypass Taliban media and phone blackouts, and expand NGO coordination efforts to ensure the anti-Taliban resistance movement continues to be recognized internationally as the legitimate government of Afghanistan instead of the Islamic Emirate.
I have already donated to the Massoud Foundation, and I will absolutely continue to do so. And I encourage everyone who reads this article - everyone who wants to do their part to make the world a better place when their leaders will not - to do the same by going to this link and donating to the Massoud Foundation. Donations, of course, are only a small part of what the Panjshir Resistance requires to continue their fight against the Taliban regime, but I will do everything within my own power - as limited as it may be - to do my part to make the world a better place.
Until our leaders wake up and reject the false idols of ignorance and isolationism, we must all work as individual citizens to improve the world and fight the forces of evil. As Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".
I, for one, refuse to do nothing in the face of evil.
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