Using a Familiar Playbook, US May Turn to Punitive Economic Sanctions in New Assault on Aghanistan

By Natasha Hakimi Zapata, In These Times

The Biden administration has withdrawn from the brutal 20-year U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, but there are signs that the country will be the target of war by other means: economic punishment. Amid a deepening economic crisis, the flow of global money to Afghanistan is being cut off: The United States froze the country’s financial reserves, the International Monetary Fund cut off its Special Drawing Rights, and world leaders are weighing additional sanctions (in addition to the sanctions that were already imposed on the Taliban).