US President Joe Biden plans to deprive Afghanistan of the status of one of the country’s main non-NATO allies. The head of state notified Congress about this on Wednesday, July 6.
“I hereby notify you of my intention to revoke Afghanistan’s status as one of the United States’ major non-NATO allies,” the US leader said in a statement.
Biden explained his position by referring to the Foreign Aid Act of 1961. The document allows to stop cooperation with states whose governments regularly violate the provisions of international humanitarian law.
The United States included Afghanistan among its main non-NATO allies in 2012.
On May 11, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CNS) of the armed forces (AF) of the United States, General Mark Milley, said that if national security was threatened, the United States would be ready to strike in Afghanistan.
Milley also stressed that Washington remains committed to its former goal of “ensure that Afghanistan will never again become a platform from which terrorists will strike at the continental United States.”
In mid-February, Atal Ahmadzai, an expert on international relations and conflicts at St. Lawrence University in New York, opined that the Taliban were unlikely to ever fulfill the promises made to the international community after coming to power in exchange for official recognition, although the movement in it desperately needs.
Earlier, on January 18, it was reported that the United States will increase assistance to Afghanistan through independent organizations that will establish meaningful supplies of food, medicine and basic necessities for needy Afghans.
United States President Joe Biden noted that the recognition of the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan by the world community cannot be unconditional and must necessarily be coordinated.
The situation in Afghanistan escalated in May 2021 after the start of the withdrawal of US troops who had been in the country since 2001. The Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) launched an offensive against the country’s major cities and occupied Kabul on August 15, announcing the end of the war. The new leaders promised the country and the world to create an inclusive government, fight terrorists, and respect human rights, including women’s rights.