I hated Donald Trump. I don’t know if I have ever hated anybody so fully and passionately. When he was replaced with a president who I think is more “good” than “bad” (a post on values and how I define these terms is forthcoming!), I experienced a kind of personal renaissance. No longer do I spend hours every day on facebook decrying how the country I love so much had fallen under the hands of a president who I considered to be on par with Adolf Hitler. I can even embrace the parts of me that lived in the Deep South and enjoyed the food and the country music and was too naïve to recognize the dangers that the politics of the region posed. I believed that Jesus had come to create a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly kingdom, and that he wouldn’t even have voted. I ignored a lot of stuff because I was young and carefree. And Donald Trump was still a reality TV star and it had crossed nobody I knew’s mind that he even had political ambitions.
During Trump’s presidency, I needed to know everyone’s political affiliation before befriending them. If the person was a “Trumper,” I really wasn’t interested in establishing any kind of friendship. Honestly, I still feel that way, and I avoid friendships with the kind of people who put him in power in the first place. The one thing I can say in Trump’s defense is that if he had never been born, they would have found somebody equally awful to commit all the humanitarian atrocities that he committed. He was a product of our times. A time when half the country wants to strive for the greatest good, and the other half just wants to “get back at” everyone they don’t like, even if there’s nothing actually in it for them. When Barak Obama wrote on social media about how if people ate less meat it would help with global sustainability, my brother lauded the nationwide countermovement to eat lots of meat just to “p*** off the libs.” Obama wanted to make a better planet for everybody, and my brother was part of a movement that wanted a worse planet for some so badly that he didn’t consider that he was really just cutting off his own nose to spite his face.
But as passionate as I still am about politics, I feel like the Universe has given me a four-year reprieve. Well, really three years because election years are stressful for everybody. But for the moment, I can walk away from the news and nothing awful has happened. Usually.
Recently, so many horrible things have happened that I feel it would be inappropriate to blog normally about apostasy and my love for my turtle when so many people are suffering so deeply. First, there was a mass shooting in Plymouth, England (Chappell, 2021). Then, another massive earthquake kills untold masses of people in Haiti again (“Haiti earthquake leaves over 300 dead, hundreds injured or missing,” 2021). Then, Afghanistan collapses.
A strange thing about living in the hospital is that TV and electronics times are limited, so I actually get a lot of my news from newspapers left around the unit. I looked down at the counter at the nurses’ station today and there was a newspaper with the front page headline, “Afghanistan Falls.” The first thing I felt was fear. I knew it was far away, but it still felt scary. When I checked out an iPad, I went to look up more information, and started out with a naïve question: “How many people died?” As I looked further, reading article after article and watching videos, I felt an unbearable sadness at watching people fall from an airplane. What were their last thoughts? Were they so certain that they would die if they didn’t get out immediately that hanging on to the outside of a plane was their only hope? Or did they think that the pilot would recognize their desperation and not really take off with them clutching their only hope of survival? What was it like for the pilot, who may have felt that not taking off would jeopardize the lives of the passengers who had managed to get aboard, and was forced to make a moral choice that will probably haunt them for the rest of their lives? It’s rare for me to see seas of people that desperate, knowing that each and every one of the people involved has a life story, and for some, today was the day their story ended. It reminded me of 9/11, watching on the news as they constantly replayed footage of my fellow Americans being forced to jump from the twin towers. I cannot describe my anguish for those people and their families. I tried to access https://asvakanews.com/en/ because I read that they had the most information, but the site was blocked on hospital devices. I did get to access most websites, however, and I’ll share here the stories that grabbed me the most:
Just watching mobs of people in so much panic that the global pandemic becomes the least of their problems is gut-wrenching.
The video above by CRYSTAL MEDIA had a long description with more information than the actual clip:
Panic in Kabul: Three stowaways ‘fall to their deaths from plane’ and five others are killed at airport as increasingly desperate Afghans climb on MOVING US Air Force plane and storm airbridges as they try to flee from Taliban
At least five people have been killed at Kabul airport as thousands desperately try to flee Afghanistan
Three stowaways reported to have fallen to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of an evacuation flight
US troops fired warning shots in to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac Monday morning
Concerned westerners were seen at the airport as news came the country’s president had fled to Uzbekistan
Airport is the main point of evacuations out of Afghanistan, but all non-military flights have been grounded
EU said foreign ministers would hold crisis talks on Tuesday as member states seek to evacuate their citizens Three stowaways are reported to have fallen to their deaths from one airborne plane and a further five people have been killed at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans try desperately to get on flights out of the country amid increasingly chaotic scenes.
US troops fired shots in the air at Hamad Karzai airport to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac after they took over Afghanistan’s air traffic control on Monday morning. Witnesses said it was not clear whether the five victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
Footage published by Afghan outlet Aśvaka showed three stowaways falling to the deaths after clinging on to the wheels of a military plane as it took off from Kabul airport. Video posted later appeared to show residents collecting their bodies from a roof in Kabul.
Meanwhile panicked Afghans were also seen climbing up the outside of an airbridge and chasing a US military C-17 down the runway in a bid to get onboard planes out of the country. Video also showed hundreds of people running alongside – and in front of – a US Air Force plane preparing to take off.
All commercial services have been suspended, with only military flights leaving the country as the UK, US and other western countries repatriate their citizens. The Ministry of Defence confirmed the first British nationals had landed at RAF base Brize Norton after being evacuated from Kabul.
It comes as 60 countries issued a joint plea to the Taliban to allow civilians to flee ahead of EU foreign ministers hold crisis talks via videolink on Tuesday.
The Taliban swept into the capital on Sunday after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing a stunning end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform the country.
The US Embassy has been evacuated and the American flag lowered, with diplomats relocating to the airport in scenes reminiscent of the evacuation of the embassy of Saigon in 1975. Other Western countries have also closed their missions and are flying out staff and civilians.
Almost all major checkpoints in Kabul were under Taliban control by Monday morning and Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory saying the ‘civilian side’ of the airport had been ‘closed until further notice’ and that the military controlled the airspace. Early Monday morning, flight-tracking data showed no immediate commercial flights over the country.
Taliban fighters were seen inside the Afghan parliament on Monday after officials promised civilians would not be harmed and announced everyone would be allowed to return home from Kabul airport if they decided to stay in the country.
The Taliban previously said westerners would be allowed to leave the country but that Afghans would be barred from departing. Iranian President Ebraham Raisi has hailed the US ‘defeat’ in Afghanistan as a chance for lasting peace.
It comes as:
Taliban fighters were seen patrolling the streets of Kabul as thousands of hopeful Afghans gathered on the runway at Hamid Karzai airport trying desperately to escape from Afghanistan;
The UK’s ambassador to Afghanistan has put plans to leave the country on hold – and remained at Kabul airport to help process the applications of those seeking to leave
Defence Minister Ben Wallace choked up as he talked about the consequences of the collapse of the Western-trained Afghan army;
The EU said member states’ foreign ministers would hold crisis talks via video link on Tuesday;
Former President Hamid Karzai urged the Taliban to spare Kabul and told residents to stay in their homes;
Russian officials said they were in touch with the Taliban in Afghanistan via its Embassy in Kabul;
The US ambassador and embassy staff fled Afghanistan after Taliban forces stormed Kabul;
President Biden ordered about 5,000 troops to help evacuate US staff ‘and other allied personnel’;
(CRYSTAL MEDIA, 2021, video description)
This article had a podcast connected to it which I did not personally listen to, but I thought it had a lot of good information on both the Afghanistan disaster and the disasters in Haiti:
Grim, breaking news out of both Haiti and Afghanistan forced us to set aside our previous plans for today’s BradCast….
First, breaking coverage on the continuing fallout and search for survivors following the enormous, 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Saturday in Les Cays, Haiti, about 80 miles east of the capitol, Port-au-Prince. As we went to air, more than 1,400 have been declared dead, with thousands more injured. There is already a shortage of hospitals, doctors, medicine and shelter as tens of thousands of families have been left homeless. The temblor in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation comes as it was already struggling with the pandemic and a lack of vaccines, gang violence, and political chaos in the wake of the July 7 assassination of its President.
It also comes as Tropical Depression Grace is set to roll in on Monday night, with some 15 inches of rain expected in some areas. The scale of human tragedy at this hour in Haiti is unfathomable. It’s likely to get much worse in the days ahead.
And while nations like Haiti are desperate for vaccines, authoritarian governors in Florida and Texas are blocking small, local governments and schools from even instituting mask requirements as the school year begins. Last week it was announced that 3 Broward County, FL teachers died from COVID over a 24-hour period. None were vaccinated. That, as several school districts defy Gov. Ron DeSantis order blocking mandates to help keep schools open and children alive.
In Texas, the state’s all-Republican Supreme Court stood behind Gov. Greg Abbott’s similar ban on mask requirements. Several of the state’s most populous counties, such as Dallas and Bexar (San Antonio) are also defying their Governors deadly, authoritarian edict.
Then, on the other side of the globe, another massive human tragedy is unfolding today, as Kabul, the capitol city in Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban on Sunday, while U.S. forces are completing their withdraw by months end after 20 years of war launched following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Seven Afghans were killed at Kabul’s airport today, as chaos erupted on the tarmac with hundreds of Afghans desperately swarming and clinging to a departing U.S. military jet.
The total collapse of Afghanistan’s government — propped up by the U.S. for decades — was remarkably swift, with its President fleeing the country over the weekend, handing control of the nation back to the Taliban. U.S. officials say they are stunned by the speed with which the Afghan government simply melted away in recent days. They shouldn’t have been. Washington Post’s Susannah George reported over the weekend on local, regional and provincial officials literally selling out to the Taliban over the past year and a half, beginning on the very day that the Trump Administration announced an agreement with the Taliban and Afghan Government to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 1 of this year.
Though President Biden extended the deadline for leaving until the end of August, he honored the deal made by the previous Administration to pull out. He spoke today at the White House as to why he stands by his decision, despite the unfolding tragedies. We share his remarks in full, in which he reiterated his previous vow in July that after the deaths of some 2,500 U.S. troops and injuries to more than 20,000 of them, following 20 years of war and more than a trillion dollars spent, he says he cannot, in good conscience, pass on this war to yet a 5th President.
Near the end of the show we open the phone lines to listeners on whether they support Biden’s decisions to pull out. The responses, at least today, are remarkably unanimous…
(TheBradBlog, 2021)
After all that, I realized that nobody could possibly know how many people in Afghanistan have died in the past few days. About eight Afghans died at the airport, but nobody know about anyplace else besides the airport, and I would assume that people from lots of countries, including mine, have died as well. And the death count is far from complete. The woman who broke down after arriving in India knew that government changeover does not happen without loss of life, and more lives are going to continue to be lost. Additionally, what will happen to all the refugees emigrating from Afghanistan? Obviously they’re going to have severe PTSD, which will make language learning extremely difficult, which will make access to therapy impossible for many. Financial barriers will definitely be a factor in this as well. I want to embrace the people fleeing and help them overcome trauma and feel loved in the new “home” they were forced to adopt. But many of those fortunate enough to escape the country with their lives will face severe discrimination in their new countries.
Another horrible day that today reminded me of was January 6, 2021, when our own government was besieged by a group of domestic terrorists. In the Deep South, I knew people who later became Trumpers and they liked to post memes like this:
Obviously, there’s a lot that I disagree with here, but having been around these circles of people as much as I have, I knew that the domestic terrorists storming the White House on January 6 were probably die-hard defenders of their 2nd Amendment rights, and they owned guns with the express purpose of being able to overthrow the government.
It could have been us. It so easily could have been us. I hope we remember that when refugees ask to come to our country. I hope we remember that when people walk among us who dress differently and can’t speak much English yet. They aren’t some other type of people. They are people, just like we all are, even the Taliban, even the Trumpers (although I haven’t yet figured out how to interact with hate groups without hating them back, and I suspect I never will). I hope we remember that the refugees who come here come because they want to live in a place of peace. They’re not the hate groups. They are sentient beings in deep need of love, just like most of the rest of us.
I’m including three articles down in the references by someone named Indi Samarajiva that I think every American should read. I’m not planning on commenting on them because that would take a separate post and I am firmly resolved that this is not going to turn into a political blog. I’ve learned that focusing too much on politics is extremely bad for my mental health, and this is a blog to improve my mental health, so I’m sticking to things that bring meaning to my life, like existential musings. I just felt like, as a global citizen, I could not ignore the events that have been going on lately.
References:
Chappell, B. (2021, August 13). At least 6 die in Britain’s deadliest mass shooting in more than A decade. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027348123/plymouth-britain-mass-shooting-dead-worst-since-2010
CRUX. (2021, August 16). Horror At Kabul Airport, Lakhs Flee As Taliban Take Over, Where Will Millions Of Afghan Refugees Go? [YouTube video]. Retrieved August 16, 2021 from https://youtu.be/-Q3hcxySfbE
CRYSTAL MEDIA. (2021, August 16). Panic in Kabul Three stowaways ‘fall to their deaths from plane and five others are kille at airport [YouTube video]. Retrieved August 16, 2021 from https://youtu.be/qge2LU-KsCc
Haiti earthquake leaves over 300 dead, hundreds injured or missing. (2021, August 15). Retrieved August 17, 2021, from CBS News website: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/haiti-earthquake-deaths-reported-2021-08-14/
Samarajiva, I. (2020, September 26). I lived through collapse. America is already there. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from: https://gen.medium.com/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there-ba1e4b54c5fc
Samarajiva, I. (2020, October 1). Collapse Takes A Lifetime. America Is Just Getting Started. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from: https://indica.medium.com/collapse-lasts-a-lifetime-america-is-just-getting-started-aae9c4b1427
Samarajiva, I. (2020, October 11).The sadness of American collapse. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from: https://indica.medium.com/the-sadness-of-american-collapse-379b80cbe3ee
TheBradBlog. (2021, August 16). Tragedy and disaster in Haiti and Afghanistan: “BradCast” 8/16/2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021, from Dailykos.com website: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2021/8/16/2046323/-Tragedy-and-Disaster-in-Haiti-and-Afghanistan-BradCast-8-16-2021
