The Kabul Tribune (KT)— Ayesha Wahab, the first Afghan American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, called Monday for the United States to maintain diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan regardless of which group is in power, saying Washington should use relations with the Taliban to encourage progress on human rights.
Wahab also sharply criticized groups opposed to the Taliban,
describing some of them as deeply failed and misguided and accusing them of
pursuing their own interests rather than those of Afghanistan.
The United States should pursue diplomacy, Wahab said in an
interview with Democracy Now. That means remaining committed to diplomacy and
maintaining relations with the country, regardless of which group is in power.
Wahab said she hopes formal U.S. relations with the Taliban
could help steer the group toward respecting human rights and improving
conditions for Afghan women.
She described the situation in Afghanistan as hopeless,
pointing to restrictions on women and children and their exclusion from
education and what she called a normal life. She warned that continuing the
current situation could prove “disastrous” for Afghanistan in the future.
Wahab also discussed her history of fighting caste
discrimination in California and said U.S. engagement with the Taliban should
be part of an effort to “steer them in the right direction” on human rights.
She also urged Washington to explore economic cooperation
with Afghanistan, including potential partnerships and contracts involving the
country’s mineral resources.
The United States should at least work with Afghanistan on
partnerships and contracts in different sectors, she said. Afghanistan also
needs other allies, and we really haven’t taken advantage of that capacity so
far.
Wahab criticized Afghan groups opposed to the Taliban,
including what she described as various warlord factions seeking political
power.
There are also different groups of warlords who want power,
she said, adding that she thinks many of these groups are also failed and
misguided because instead of thinking about the interests of the country, they
are pursuing their own interests.
Without naming specific individuals or organizations, Wahab
said some of those groups had received U.S. backing in the past but contributed
to instability and abuses in Afghanistan.
Wahab said Afghanistan’s problems cannot be attributed
solely to the Taliban and called for a broader approach to addressing the
country’s political and humanitarian challenges.
Wahab, a California lawmaker, won a special election in
California’s 14th Congressional District, becoming the first Afghan American
woman elected to the U.S. House. She is 39 and was born in New York to Afghan
immigrant parents.
