1. Gentle rant thread: When I see comments posted below stories on the humanitarian crisis in #Afghanistan and many tweets on here, it makes me sad to witness people equate ordinary Afghans, millions of human beings just trying to survive impossible odds, with the #Taliban.
2. [I have spent my whole career trying to draw attention to the fact that wars are fought by a tiny minority of people, amongst a massive group who feel the worst impact of it. They are the civilians. I worry in no small degree sometimes that I’ve failed in that.] #afghanistan
3. The impact of war is increasingly causing economic collapse and #famine. Whether on purpose (in places like #SouthSudan and #Syria), as an unintended side effect (as in #Afghanistan) or somewhere between (like in #Yemen). So these conflict induced crises are@not going away.
4. I worry about a refusal to see even the most obvious humanist nuances, like the difference between a civilian trying to survive whatever regime shows up at his village, and the regime itself. I’m not talking policy here, but our private, emotional response. Our compassion.
5. We see arguments that are inaccurate, often used to justify a lack of compassion. Like ‘maybe if they had fought for their country...’ #Afghan security forces fought and died in devastating numbers, the casualty rates were unprecedented. [Politicians surrendered and fled.]
6. We see the argument “let the #Taliban figure all this out - it’s their mess”. There is truth here, but it won’t negate two truths. Firstly, the civilians who are suffering remain innocent. And secondly, millions of those innocents could die. #afghanistan
7. The implications of lack of compassion worry me because I think we ‘other’ people to do so. They are strangers who have a dysfunctional way of being and sometimes they pay the price,
I hear underneath the arguments. This can be applied to conflicts all over the world.
8. Anyway, I’m not arguing for this or that policy and hope I’m not moralizing or finger wagging. I’m just worried about the slow creep of our collective acceptance of people starving. Why is war and its implications so acceptable to us? Can we make it unacceptable? #afghanistan

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More from @JaneFerguson5

29 Oct 21
1. Astonishing, damning speech given by head of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (oversight committee on war) @SIGARHQ on efforts by @StateDept and @DeptofDefense to classify vital info on #Afghanwar since the fall of Kabul in Aug.... thread summary 👇
2. "..shortly after the fall of #Kabul, the State Dept wrote to me and other oversight agencies requesting to “temporarily suspend access” to all “audit, inspection, and financial audit...reports” on our website..." They claimed info on reports could endanger Afghan allies...
3. "But despite repeated requests, State was never able to describe any specific threats to individuals supposedly contained in our reports, nor did State explain how removing reports could possibly protect anyone since many were yrs old and extensively disseminated worldwide."
Read 15 tweets
26 Aug 21
1. A US Marine just told an interpreter who was badly injured by an IED working with US forces in #Afghanistan that it’s green card holders and US passports only. He has all the paperwork with him for his SIV application and letters from his employer and former US commander...
2. This man’a story is important because it represents so many others. He has been waiting for an SIV for several years - he struggled initially to find and contact his former US commanding officer and finally did recently and for the letter of recommendation....
3. When the #Biden admin and State Dept announced in July that those with SIV applications in process - not being issues because of the backlog and the Embassy being closed for COVID - would be evacuated to a third location, this man was relieved. He thought that would happen..
Read 5 tweets
22 Aug 21
1. The #BritishMilitary here at #KabulAirport have shown breathtaking levels of toughness, professionalism and - rare in war times I must say - compassion. I've been moved to tears by their actions, diving into dangerous crowds to pull visa-holders into the base....
2. ...guarding sleeping women and children, helping them find the right transportation to the US air strip for their flights, pulling their own food out of their pockets and handing it to refugees in need, sleeping out on the cement, little supplies, parched in the sun...
3. ....there are young men here who have lost their voices days ago, sunburned faces, dusty uniforms, exhausted, still working to help people in what is. humanitarian mission few soldiers are really prepared for....
Read 4 tweets
20 Mar 20
1. It is becoming apparent that, whatever the outcome of the #coronavirus pandemic, we will for years look back at our societies globally and learn more about ourselves judging by our responses to this crisis. So far, highly individualistic societies do not come off well at all..
2. In countries where people have grabbed up all the food and supplies in a panic, or continued to party on the beach because they think only of their robust, young immunity, it is clear there is no grasp of how our loving interconnectedness comes at the cost of responsibility...
3. In other places, like the Mediterranean culture I'm living in here in Lebanon, there is a very real sense of community (even despite the tribalist sectarianism here). People live with their families, grandma lives at home with everyone, and they want to protect her...
Read 4 tweets
31 Dec 18
1. Kudos and thank you @facebook for putting my video from #Yemen back up. They apologized and acted quickly. Four year old Ikram was in a hospital in #Sanaa this month. One of the many, tiny casualties of the disastrous war in Yemen. Thanks to @NickKristof for helping with this!
I met Ikram and her mother on my recent trip rebel-held #Yemen this month for @NewsHour. An estimated 85,000 children have already died of malnutrition and preventable diseases in Yemen as a direct result of this war, and the UN says that for some the famine has begun...
3. The numbers of those in need are staggering. And they keep getting worse: the number currently being fed by the UN - 8 million. Number going to be fed this coming year - 12 million. Number who need food - 20 million. That’s out of a population of 28 million. #yemen
Read 4 tweets

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