Foreign Digest: Afghanistan, South Africa, Lebanon, and Venezuela

Afghanistan: The Trump Administration announced last week that it is conducting a comprehensive review of the “catastrophic” Trump-Biden withdrawal of United States-led coalition forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 that led to the collapse of the Afghan Government and the return to power of the Taliban Islamist regime that the coalition had overthrown in 2022. The Taliban had harbored the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda, responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000 people, the most in history. The Trump Administration will re-review the withdrawal likely to place maximum political blame on then-President Joe Biden, a liberal Democrat, and minimize the responsibility of Donald Trump. As I have posted, Trump legitimized the Taliban militia by negotiating with them, undermined the Afghan Government by excluding them from the negotiations, released 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and concluded a deal with the Taliban that promised a U.S. withdrawal in exchange for a Taliban pledge not to harbor terrorists again. By the time Biden took office, the Taliban controlled more territory than they had since 2001. Biden was constrained by Trump’s agreement with the Taliban from resisting the Islamist militia’s military takeover while it had destroyed the morale of the Afghan Government forces, though, like Trump, Biden favored withdrawal from Afghanistan, even though there were only 2,500 American troops stationed there in a non-combat role and there had been no U.S. fatalities since February 2020. The Taliban are intertwined with terrorists, as I have posted. I had posted that al-Qaeda’s leader then took residence in the Afghan capital, where he was better able to communicate with the terrorist organization’s operatives, but the U.S. under Biden conducted missile strikes and killed him after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The withdrawal was disastrous, as the Taliban supplanted an ally in the War on Terrorism and the withdrawal was a loss of prestige, even though the U.S. had succeeded in its main goal of preventing another al-Qaeda attack on the scale of September 11, but not “catastrophic,” as American forces were withdrawn safely, except for one attack by the Islamic State terrorist organization, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and some Afghans were evacuated, including some who had worked for the coalition, and some material was also evacuated or destroyed before the Taliban seized it, but the Taliban did regain power and seized much material, and have oppressed Afghans and targeted many who worked for the Government or coalition with persecution and death. As I have posted, Trump made it difficult for Afghans to be obtain U.S. visas by undermining the visa program in a number of ways. In his second Administration, he has stripped Afghan refugees of protections and even decline refuge to Afghan Christians. South Africa: The American Episcopal Church announced last week it is ending its 40-year partnership with the federal government for resettling refugees because it is immoral that the Trump Administration lets in white (Afrikaner) South Africans on exaggerated claims of persecution, but not people of other races, ethnicities or religions. As I mentioned earlier in this post, Trump denies protection to Afghans at risk of persecution or death by the Taliban regime that are the de facto rulers of Afghanistan, including those who worked for the U.S. in the War on Terrorism, and even Christians, or Venezuelans persecuted by the Socialist regime, among others. Lebanon: The Lebanese President, a Christian, as required by the Arab State’s Constitution, announced last week that Lebanon would disarm Palestinian militia and terrorist organizations in Lebanon. The President had already announced a policy against Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization and political party that is sponsored by Iran. Venezuela: The center-right opposition to the Socialist dictatorship is urging a boycott of today’s parliamentary and gubernatorial elections as a “farse.” The Socialists, who were elected 25 years ago and became increasingly authoritarian, lost the presidential election in July 2024, but refused to publish the details of the results and declared themselves the winners to remain in power. The United States and many of its allies and many Latin American States across the political spectrum at least did not recognize the results or even recognized the opposition candidate as the President-elect. Venezuela is also attempting to conduct elections in Essequibo, the part of Guyana claimed by the Venezuelan regime, despite international rulings in favor of Guyanese sovereignty over the oil-rich area. Guyana has banned voting by its residents in the Venezuelan election.