The New and Improved Taliban The Afghan regime lashes women in public and bans school for girls.
During President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, U.S. officials expressed hope that the reconquering Taliban regime might be interested in joining modernity and the roll call of civilized nations. Maybe the mullahs would like Davos.
“The Taliban seeks international legitimacy and support,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Aug. 30, the official end of the evacuation. “Our message is: Any legitimacy and any support will have to be earned.” How? By “respecting the basic rights of the Afghan people, including women and minorities” and “forming an inclusive government that can meet the needs and reflect the aspirations of the Afghan people.”
On Wednesday the Taliban banned girls from attending elementary schools, as well as female teachers and other staff, the Journal reports. “My daughter has locked herself in a room since this morning and won’t stop crying,” said the father of a rising fifth-grader who wanted to become a doctor for her home village. “All her hopes are broken.” A day earlier, universities were also closed to women.
Two weeks ago the Taliban presided over its first public execution since returning to power. The convicted man had been found guilty of a murder. “Under the Islamic legal tenet of ‘qisas,’ which allows personal retribution for crimes, the father of the murder victim carried out the death sentence as a crowd watched, shooting the killer three times,” the Washington Post reports.
A comeback for public lashings began weeks earlier, when nine men and three women were beaten in front of hundreds of spectators at a sports stadium. The provincial governor, the Associated Press says, sent social-media invites for the 9 a.m. event to “honorable scholars, mujahideen, elders, tribal leaders and local people.” Another public lashing of nine women this month included punishments for “illegal relations” and “escaping from home.”
In a Tuesday press release, Mr. Blinken said the U.S. “condemns in the strongest terms” the Taliban’s “restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms.” He added: “The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all in Afghanistan. This decision will come with consequences for the Taliban.”
But the Taliban don’t care about joining the “international community.” They care about imposing strict Islamic law on the people of Afghanistan, which includes no education for girls. No matter Mr. Blinken’s distant rebuke, this was inevitable the minute Mr. Biden ordered the last American out of Kabul.
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