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Iran's war on Afghan Refugees

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    Iran’s War on Afghan Refugees: An Unfair Scapegoating Strategy By Wahab Raofi   Human beings are members of a whole In creation of one essence and soul If one member is afflicted with pain Other members uneasy will remain If you have no sympathy for human pain The name of human you cannot retain n   Saadi Shirazi, Iranian poet   In the aftermath of the 12-day Iran-Israel war, Iranian authorities have launched a quiet campaign of terror — not against an external enemy, but against their own people,” Karen Kramer wrote in The New York Times . What remains largely untold, however, is that the regime’s crackdown falls disproportionately on Afghans residing in Iran. Much like Nazi Germany, which scapegoated Jews to deflect blame for its own internal failures, the Iranian regime targets the most vulnerable — poor and defenseless Afghans — whether they live legally in Iran or seek refuge from turmoil. This form of collective punishment no...
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Taliban's Illusion of Exceptions

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  The Taliban’s Illusion of Exception. On August 16, the Taliban mark their so-called “victory day” in Afghanistan. They present themselves as an exception to Afghan history, claiming permanence where others failed. Yet the history of this land tells a different story — one in which rulers, no matter how powerful, are ultimately forced to flee. Nearly two centuries ago, on August 3, 1839, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan abandoned Kabul and fled north toward Bukhara. His flight came after the British, fearing his growing ties with Russia, backed his rival Shah Shuja and marched him into Afghanistan with British forces. Kabul fell, and Dost Mohammad had no choice but to escape. His downfall was not only a matter of battlefield defeat but also the result of great-power politics and internal weakness — forces that have toppled Afghan rulers again and again. Shah Shuja himself did not escape this fate. On April 5, 1842, he was killed while trying to flee the country by supporters of Wazir Akb...
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Surprisingly, I Was Wrong Not to Vote for Trump

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  A shorter version of this piece appeared in The Washington Post. This is the full version.     By Wahab Raofi I am a registered Republican. And like many others, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. His tone and rhetoric alarmed me. He said things that sounded extreme — like letting Europe defend itself, raising tariffs, or threatening to deport immigrants en masse. I feared the worst. But in hindsight, much of what Trump actually did — particularly in his foreign policy — has turned out to be effective. As Bret Stephens of The New York Times wrote, Trump may go down as a “surprisingly successful president.” He achieved what others only talked about. NATO’s European members and Canada began spending more on defense — something past U.S. presidents asked for, but too politely. Rather than dismantling the transatlantic alliance, as his critics feared, Trump arguably reinvigorated it. Realizing my mistake set me to thinking. Much of my adult life has been consumed...
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