While President Joe Biden’s scripted speech on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan left people wondering just who exactly is in charge of things, one thing also made crystal clear today is that the Biden State Department doesn’t have their act together, either.
During their daily press briefing, State Dept. spokesman Ned Price, who is already on record as not being the sharpest tool in the shed, proceeded to confirm that the United States was in agreement with the United Nations Security Council’s official statement on Afghanistan which, in part, called on the new government (which they didn’t expressly refer to by name) to be an “inclusive” one where women got a seat at the table. Here’s an excerpt from the UN’s statement:
The members of the Security Council called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and the establishment, through inclusive negotiations, of a new Government that is united, inclusive and representative — including with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women. They underlined that institutional continuity and adherence to Afghanistan’s international obligations, as well as the safety and security of all Afghan and international citizens, must be ensured.
Watch as Price reiterated the UNSC’s call for government “inclusion” below:
The State Department joins the UN Security Council in calling for an "inclusive" government in Afghanistan: pic.twitter.com/TDsQecokfv
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 16, 2021
While there are valid and justifiable concerns about the future of women and girls in the country after what appears to be the Taliban’s successful takeover of the country in a relatively short amount of time, that both the United Nations and the Biden administration saw fit to call on them at this early stage to make sure they put an “inclusive” government in place seems more than a little off-key (to put it mildly) considering the Taliban’s history, which my RedState colleague Brandon Morse explained earlier:
To be clear, the Taliban is not an organization that is remotely kind to women. It hardly sees them as people. Under the Taliban, sex slavery is very, very common. Women are treated more like cattle than people. They have no rights and are forbidden from getting an education.
[…]
It’s likely that the United Nations already knows this fact, but is unwilling to go so far as to demand from the Taliban themselves that they practice equality.
Not only that, but consider the fact that on Sunday, a senior leader of the Hamas terrorist group gave a ringing endorsement of the Taliban’s actions:
The Taliban are victorious today after being accused of backwardness & terrorism. it became more pragmatic. They have stood up to the US & its agents refusing compromise, they have not been fooled by slogans like democracy & elections.
This is a lesson for all oppressed peoples.— د. موسى أبو مرزوق DR. Mousa Abumarzook (@mosa_abumarzook) August 15, 2021
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but Hamas would not be high-fiving the Taliban if they were known for being “inclusive” of diverse groups of people in anything, much less its government.
The immediate priority here is not “inclusion” in government. It’s the safety and security of Afghans, including women and children, and the humanitarian crisis that is rapidly unfolding. Perhaps if the Biden administration had put more of an emphasis on such things in their exit strategy for Afghanistan, we wouldn’t have to worry about such matters now.
And yet here we are.
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