Thread by @astroehlein

Successive US administrations have largely perceived human rights more as an obstacle than as an essential component of addressing #Afghanistan’s problems.

This approach has been catastrophic...

As US forces withdraw from #Afghanistan, many in the US national security establishment are rehashing old debates about the conflict & what could have led to “victory” – more troops, looser rules of engagement, etc.

It's all very familiar to what happened after the Vietnam War.

But all of these arguments, "grievously devalue the devastating consequences of the war for Afghans — civilians and fighters alike", as my colleague, @pagossman writes...
hrw.org/news/2021/07/0…

The primary and defining characteristic of the armed conflict in #Afghanistan over the last two decades has been harm to civilians caused by massive human rights abuses and war crimes by all sides.

These rampant abuses have in turn fueled the cycle of conflict in numerous ways, including by inspiring recruitment to the insurgency, rendering political dialogue nearly impossible, and undermining efforts to promote stability through better governance.

Human Rights Watch's @pagossman has spent much of the last 20 years talking to Afghans about the consequences of counterterrorism gone wrong...

@pagossman Civilian deaths & injuries that never made it into the Pentagon’s airstrike death count…

Night raids that turned into summary executions targeting people who had the bad luck to live in a contested area…

Torture in custody that destroyed lives & motivated revenge…

And the consequences…

- Taliban resurgence abetted by Afghan govt abuses & corruption;

- public disillusionment in the post-2001 project;

- rise of ISIS in Afghanistan, an offspring of Pakistan pandering to Islamist extremism & Afghan warlords’ mis-governance in the east.

🔑 The ground for what went wrong was laid early - long before the Taliban re-emerged - through squandered opportunities and the obliviousness or apathy of US generals about atrocities being committed by Afghan forces, the US military, and CIA units.

"...mistakes were rooted in a basic failure to recognize that corruption & widespread human rights abuses – both by US and #Afghan government forces – sabotaged the overall enterprise."

Read the full analysis: hrw.org/news/2021/07/0…