Afghanistan's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens Amid Drought and Uncertain Withdrawal

Two years after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, Western assessments of the regime remain obscured by anger and misconceptions. Despite dire predictions of a catastrophe, the widely foreseen disaster has not materialized. The Taliban has surprisingly achieved success in various areas, including reducing opium cultivation and improving the country's currency, inflation, and imports. While the Taliban's treatment of women and girls is abominable, the situation was not significantly better under previous governments. The Afghan Diaspora's decision to leave the country instead of staying and pushing back has weakened their moral authority. Overall, while not a cause for celebration, the two-year anniversary of the Taliban's rule has not been the disaster many predicted.