RUTHFULLY YOURS

America and its European allies, in what would be a final humiliation, appear to be moving toward recognition of — in effect, a surrender to — the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Following meetings with the Kabul regime at Oslo, the Western powers released a statement falling short of “official recognition or legitimization of the interim government.” Yet it outlines conditions for the Taliban to resume a role on the world stage.

The Western powers emphasized “the importance of respect for human rights” in Afghanistan as well as “the strong need for an inclusive and representative political system” in the war-torn nation. The Taliban was also encouraged “to do more to stop the alarming increase of human rights violations.” There were no promises of renewed funding in the statement, but it suggests aid could flow again if the Taliban reforms its ways.

Afghan opponents of the Taliban are calling it a mistake to hold the meetings at all. “We believe this conference was a form of appeasement by Western governments to a terrorist group,” a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front, Ali Nazary, tells the Sun. The Resistance Front — led by Ahmad Massoud, a son of the anti-Soviet fighter, Ahmad Shah Massoud — bills itself as “the last force fighting for the restoration of democracy in Afghanistan.”

The Western powers may be attempting to move toward recognition of the Taliban, Mr. Nazary says, but he predicts the effort will fail. “The Taliban will never be able to meet those conditions,” Mr. Nazary said. The Taliban is a “fractured group fighting among themselves” and is not able to present any coherent message to foreign powers. Under these circumstances, “their promises are worthless,” Mr. Nazary contended.

The statement was issued by the American and Norwegian governments after the first meetings between the Taliban and American and European diplomats. The Oslo talks also included aid organizations and Afghan civil society groups, Reuters reported. Following the resumption of Taliban control over Afghanistan in August, international aid to the country has largely dried up and the nation’s foreign assets, totaling nearly $10 billion, have been frozen.

The country is in a state of “humanitarian crisis,” the statement says, noting the need for “steps to help alleviate the suffering of Afghans across the country.” That acknowledgement reflects the Taliban’s hopes for a resumption of foreign aid, along with regaining access to the billions in dollars frozen in Western banks. A Taliban delegate pleaded for a return of aid money, “because of the starvation, because of the deadly winter.”

Taliban officials have pledged not to repeat the barbaric rule they imposed before their regime was toppled by American forces after September 11, 2001. Yet the statement notes numerous human rights violations that need to be ended. Among the violations singled out for mention are “arbitrary detentions,” “forced disappearances, media crackdowns, extra-judicial killings, torture,” and trampling on women’s rights.

While the meetings were being held Secretary General Guterres of the United Nations said at the Security Council that Afghanistan was “hanging by a thread,” Reuters reported. He called for countries to resume their humanitarian aid programs. The Biden administration is having trouble making up its mind whether to release to the Taliban some $7 billion in Afghan frozen assets or stand with victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Families of victims killed in the attacks of September 11 have received a judgment in a United States federal court that they are entitled to the money, owing to the Taliban’s role as host of al-Qaeda, author of the attacks on 9/11. The Justice department punted Thursday on the question of what should be done, asking a federal judge to wait until February 11 for America to disclose its decision.

Does that delay itself signal the possibility of recognizing the Taliban in the interim? America and Norway claim the meetings in Oslo “in no way” imply any “official recognition or legitimization” of the Taliban’s interim government. Instead, they aver, “the source of domestic legitimacy for any future government of Afghanistan will be the Afghan people themselves.” Mr. Nazary is less coy. “There is,” he says, “no government to recognize.”

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