Wishy-Washy Rishi Condemns The Taliban.

Women being stopped from being educated under an ultra-extreme interpretation of the Quran should not be surprising. In fact, women's rights in general being restricted should not be a surprise.

Such was and is the case since the Taliban took power. After the West pulled out ala Vietnam. The Taliban took Kabul because Western forces were evacuating and those Afghans who worked for them (although not all made it out). The Afghan army melted away despite years of training by Western forces.

However, despite this, the US, UK, Germany and others are still watching Afghanistan. Tales daily arrive in the media of atrocities committed by the regime.

Whether it was Western pressure or not the Taliban allowed girls to continue their education at school in March. Afghanistan is heavily sanctioned since the Taliban took power. Their assets around the world are frozen. Aid agencies have stopped largely on the ground. The Taliban know their country is in big trouble as their economy hits rock bottom. The Taliban need investment and help and they know it. They have a question to answer. Do they wish for outside help and how willing are they willing to compromise on their core stances to bring this about? Issues like women's rights, the oppression of men not having beards, the oppression of Christians and other faiths, etc.

The Taliban in the United States' view has recently taken a step backwards. This decision taken by the Taliban will do nothing to lift sanctions or bring aid into the country. If anything it will keep aid and investment into the country null and void. It seems the Taliban's extreme version of Islamic law has succeeded on this occasion.

That decision is to stop and prohibit women from going to universities. The Taliban cabinet in Kabul issued this edict to private and public universities. However, some women and places of education may resist this at their cost.

UK Prime Minister (God help us!) Rishi Sunak has spoken out against this measure. Mr. Sunak warned the Taliban "the world is watching". Mr. Sunak also waxed lyrical about how horrible it would be if his two daughters were forbidden from attending universities. The Taliban have not given a reason why they took this decision. However, as said before given their ideology it is not surprising. Therefore, the answer to the question "why" can be found in the Taliban's extreme version of Islam.

Other government members like Foreign Minister James Cleverly agreed with Mr. Sunak. The UK's UN Ambassador Barbera Woodward also agreed with the Prime Minister's words. Words from Rishi Sunak or Joe Biden are fine but no one is riding to the rescue of these Afghan students. The West invaded in 2001 and fought a war ending in 2022 with the Taliban.

Technically, one could argue it ended in a Taliban victory. So there is no way the West will re-invade to right the wrongs of the Taliban. We have tried to impose our version of government on both Iraq and Afghanistan. To varying degrees in Iraq, there is a form of democracy but it remains tenuous. Democracy in Afghanistan like the dinosaurs is well and truly dead. It seems the era of the West imposing our values on others at least in military terms is well and truly over.

Summing up his thoughts on how women are treated in Afghanistan Mr. Sunak said "women of Afghanistan have so much to offer. Denying them access to university is a great step backwards". Mr. Sunak is of course right but whether the regime in Kabul will pay any heed to the Prime Minister's comments remains to be seen.

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