Michael Hughes
AOPNEWS
September 15, 2021
A group of American senators, led by intelligence panel vice chair Marco Rubio, introduced legislation on Wednesday directing the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the Taliban movement as a state sponsor of terrorism as well as an illegitimate regime.
The move comes as the U.S. and international community are hesitant to recognize the new Taliban government, which seized power last month, a pseudo-state actor that still has close ties to groups like al-Qaeda and Pakistani outfits active in Kashmir.
The Taliban have been pressed to implement an inclusive government and protect human rights, but reports have surfaced of violations including suppression of women. The U.S. and its allies have dangled promises of UN sanctions removal and donor funding, but the Taliban have apparently not changed their ways.
The United States currently only has certain individuals within the group designated, but the State Department has never formally added the Taliban, as an entity, to the department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.
“There is no doubt that a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan poses a direct threat to our national security interests and that of our allies and partners both in the Middle East and in Central Asia,” Rubio said in a statement accompanying the 14-page legislation.
Rubio said that following the Biden Administration’s disastrous military withdrawal, Afghanistan is already becoming a “safe haven for terrorists who hate America.”
“Unfortunately, there is no reason to think President Biden will treat the Taliban like the terrorists they are,” Rubio added. “Congress must take action to deal with this new reality and keep Americans safe.”
Earlier this week, Rubio confronted Secretary of State Antony Blinken during congressional hearings over the Taliban’s ties with al-Qaeda. The top American diplomat confirmed that the Taliban’s links to the terrorist group – responsible for September 11 – have not been severed.
In the same statement Senator Tommy Tuberville said that Americans are disgusted with the way the Biden administration handled the exit from Afghanistan, which he claimed “emboldened” the Taliban.
“The weakness of this administration has been showcased, so now it is imperative that Congress takes action to ensure that the U.S does not legitimize the Taliban and treats them as what they are – a radical terrorist organization,” Tuberville said.
The senator added that America has been secure against terror attacks for 20 years due to the presence of U.S. troops, “but now the Taliban are equipped with taxpayer-funded weapons and equipment that they will only use to further their malicious agenda.”
The proposal, entitled the “Preventing the Recognition of Terrorist States Act of 2021,” calls for viewing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan as a “coup d’etat and therefore illegitimate.” If passed, the bill will require the United States to continue recognizing the “democratically elected government of the Islamic Republic.”
The document notes that the United States recognizes individuals already designated as terrorists by the United States, such as Sirajuddin Haqqani, will play a key role in the Taliban regime.
In addition to terrorist designations, the senators want to significantly restrict any funding or foreign assistance to Afghanistan unless U.S. development agencies can ensure the money does not flow through terrorist hands in the regime.
“No Federal department or agency may take any action or extend any assistance that states or implies recognition of the Taliban’s claim of sovereignty over Afghanistan,” text of the legislation says.
The financial sanctions would also include typical bans and restrictions on extending commercial licenses, loans, and Export-Import Bank assistance.
The bill would also impose sanctions against any foreign individuals who knowingly provide material support to the Taliban.
And, according to the proposal, the State Department will prepare a report that determines if the Taliban should be designated “as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker under the Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.”
No later than 120 days of enactment, according to the bill document, the administration must submit to Congress a report describing Pakistani government actions to provide safe haven to terrorist organizations.
With respect to other foreign powers, the bill – if passed – would require the State Department to submit regular reports on the Taliban’s relations with Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China along with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The senators want to understand the likelihood that these countries will seek to invest in Afghanistan’s natural resources and the impact such investments might have on the national security of the United States.
The legislation also proposes assessing whether the importation of rare earth metals extracted in Afghanistan and goods produced from such metals violates forced labor bans.
Biden has come under fire for delaying the Trump administration’s withdrawal plan by four months and leaving Americans and Afghan supporters stranded at the Kabul airport which left them as sitting ducks for an ISIS attack.
However, former President Donald Trump has shown no reason for thinking he would handle the situation any better after proclaiming that civil war general Robert E. Lee could have defeated the Taliban while insinuating that he would flatten Afghanistan.