The entire national economy was fueled by foreign aid, its only rival being the lucrative opium industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds were wasted, leaving the Afghan people to scavenge for food to survive while the Taliban reestablishes the country as a global terrorist hub.Ī year ago, foreign aid constituted a whopping 80% of the government’s budget and nearly half of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, the Taliban that swooped in following our humiliating withdrawal have firmed up their brutal rule and erased all progress the country had made, from educating girls and women to protecting religious minorities.įor more than 20 years, a foreign-aid establishment of government bureaucrats, United Nations experts, contractors, and aid agencies utterly failed to help Afghans gain any semblance of self-sufficiency, leaving behind a failed state and Asia’s poorest country. That’s no change from a year ago when we were also told that half the country required emergency food and other lifesaving assistance to avoid a major famine. military forces from Afghanistan a year ago, half the population-some 20 million people-remains hungry. government since President Joe Biden’s disastrous pullout of U.S.
They are still searching for their first win of the season, and ‘crisis club’ Manchester United are now above them in the Premier League table.Despite $775 million in humanitarian aid from the U.S. And this team, on a night where it could have all imploded, stood up and were counted. Martinez had recovered from his half-time withdrawal at Brentford to dominate the Liverpool front line.įor the first time all season, they were a team. This was a United that had worked so hard for 90 minutes and they were not going to let this vital result slip. From a corner, Liverpool kept the ball alive and Salah was there to head home after Fabio Carvahlo’s initial effort was saved.īut this was not the United of old. Roberto Firmino offered nothing and the passes just weren’t sticking for the front three.īut then the man who so often gets them out of trouble found a goal back. Yes, they are in the midst of an injury crisis with Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Diogo Jota injured and with Darwin Nunez suspended, they were without nine first team players and lacked anything up front. The one obvious thing, looking at both benches was the weakness of Liverpool’s squad. Liverpool looked out of their depth at Old Trafford. Alisson could do nothing to prevent the England man scoring his first Premier League goal since January and Old Trafford was bouncing. Henderson lost the ball in the middle of the pitch and all of a sudden Gomez was left exposed as Rashford raced onto a through ball. Cristiano Ronaldo watched on from the bench as the team he so desired to leave showed a level of passion they simply haven’t reached when he has been on the pitch.Īnthony Martial’s second half introduction allowed United to capitalize on another Liverpool error. This was the United we thought we were going to see under Ten Hag.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was having all sorts of problems and was beaten by a quick one-two, before Jadon Sancho kept his cool in the box to send Alisson for a hot dog as Van Dijk was left statue-esque.