Chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul, has in a letter to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressed “strong opposition” to US government officials traveling to Afghanistan and “normalizing” the Taliban.
The US Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement on Tuesday that the Taliban has “only worsened their behavior” since seizing power nearly two years ago, despite US engagement.
“The Taliban continues to take Americans hostage, disrupt humanitarian assistance efforts, appoint al-Qaeda officials to government positions, and enforce increasingly draconian rules on women and girls, such as barring them from receiving an education above the sixth grade.” The statement stated.
The statement added that the US “must lead the international community in demanding reforms, not normalizing the Taliban”.
In March, Michael McCaul urged the Biden administration to impose stricter sanctions on Taliban officials as a response to their treatment of women and girls.
In an ensuing letter to Antony Blinken, he expressed “grave concern” over the Biden administration’s “willful failure to impose visa restriction sanctions on members of the Taliban who are responsible for the abhorrent treatment of Afghan women and girls.”
Earlier this month, Michael McCaul criticized President Joe Biden’s statement regarding the absence of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the US receiving help from the Taliban. He referred to Biden’s remarks as an attempt to whitewash the Taliban and al Qaeda’s longstanding ties and said it may even be an attempt to get the US on the path of recognizing the Taliban.
