As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector.

Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the lack of heat and basic amenities as winter descended.

“There’s been a drought. There’s food insecurity. And all of this has been exacerbated due to this economic crisis and due to lack of the U.N. and NGOs being able to pay people in the field,” says Spiegel. “What we see now is that it’s not the Taliban that is holding us back. It is the sanctions,” says Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

 

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#democracynow Afghanistan Amy Goodman Dr. Paul Spiegel Humanitarian Crisis Jan Egeland Juan Gonzalez NGO Norwegian Refugee Council World Health Organization