Hi, John—
Earlier today, two suicide bombers struck near the Kabul airport, where
thousands of Afghans and other civilians have been gathering in hopes of
escaping Taliban rule.^1 Numbers are still coming in, but it appears that
at least 60 Afghan civilians and 12 U.S. troops have been killed, and more
than 140 people are wounded.^2
Since the Taliban took control of the country, Doctors Without Borders has
seen an influx of patients to their hospitals, and today's attacks
underscore just how critical their work continues to be in Afghanistan.
MoveOn members have come together to donate more than $500,000 to support
Doctors Without Borders' urgent work in Afghanistan and Haiti since last
week, but the needs are tremendous.
[ [link removed] ]Can you rush an emergency,
tax-deductible, $3 donation now? 100% of your donation will
go directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Please keep reading to learn more about the situation on the ground and
the lifesaving work Doctors Without Borders does every day.
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Dear MoveOn member,
After 20 years of failed U.S. policy and occupation, Afghanistan fell to
the Taliban last Sunday, placing the lives of millions of Afghan
citizens—particularly women and girls—at risk for brutal repression and
totalitarian rule.^3 Simultaneously, half a world away, a massive
earthquake in Haiti left at least 1,900 people dead and tens of thousands
injured, just one month after the country was thrown into disarray by the
assassination of their president.^4
The scale of each of these crises is profound, and the images we're
seeing—such as Afghan citizens clinging to military planes in an attempt
to flee and Haitians using makeshift cots to carry wounded family members
to already overcrowded hospitals—are heartbreaking.
Moments like these can be paralyzing, but there is something each of us
can do to help.
Doctors Without Borders has been on the ground in Haiti and Afghanistan
for decades, providing desperately needed medical care and assistance, and
their work will be crucial in the coming days and weeks.
[ [link removed] ]Will you click here now to make an emergency, tax-deductible donation
of $3 to support Doctors Without Borders' work in
Afghanistan and Haiti? 100% of your donation will go directly to them.
United States policy not only failed in Afghanistan during the 20 years we
spent at war in the country but also in this acute moment of crisis. The
U.S. government knew that the Taliban would overtake the country as our
forces left, but instead of creating plans to evacuate citizens at risk
and protect the Afghans who worked for the United States, thousands of
people are stuck in a bureaucratic backlog which puts them at direct risk
of retaliation by Taliban forces.^5
The global community, and particularly the United States, must come
together to help the people of Afghanistan for the long term by providing
assistance to refugees, ensuring that women and girls are able to receive
an education, and putting a stop to human rights abuses as they arise. But
in these critical early days, citizens in Afghanistan must have access to
reliable medical care and resources, and Doctors Without Borders is
committed to providing that urgently needed help.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to make a tax-deductible donation of $3 now.
100% of your donation will go directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that took the lives of a quarter of a
million people, the nation has struggled to rebuild and has been plagued
by corruption and gang violence, culminating in the shocking assassination
of their president by an international militia just last month.^6 And as
the world's oldest Black republic, the country has long been a target of
racist interventionism and exploitation by imperial powers.
Sunday's earthquake has thrown the country into even more chaos and an
acute lack of access to medical care or emergency supplies.
Doctors Without Borders has been on the ground in Haiti since the 2010
quake and will serve to fill gaps in care, providing emergency medical
assistance to those directly impacted by the disaster.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to make a tax-deductible donation of $3 now.
100% of your donation will go directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Together, MoveOn members like you raised more than $3 million for relief
efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. And
after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and left tens of thousands of
people displaced, MoveOn members opened the doors to their very own homes
to provide shelter for families. MoveOn members have often responded with
powerful collective action in facing crises from Yemen to the U.S. Virgin
Islands to Syria to our own border with Mexico.
Today, as we once more confront urgent crises across the globe, we need
your support.
[ [link removed] ]If you are able, please rush an emergency, tax-deductible donation
of $3 to Doctors Without Borders to support relief efforts
in Afghanistan and Haiti.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mana, David, Kelly, Oscar, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Bombings strike Kabul airport, killing at least 12 U.S. troops and
dozens of Afghan civilians." The New York Times, August 26, 2021
[link removed]
2. Ibid.
3. "Intelligence Agencies Did Not Predict Imminence of Afghan Collapse,
Officials Say," The New York Times, August 18, 2021
[link removed]
4. "Haiti Quake Toll Leaps to Nearly 2,000 Dead as Rain Pelts Survivors,"
The New York Times, August 17, 2021
[link removed]
5. "The Taliban intensify a search for people who worked with U.S. and
British forces, a U.N. document says." The New York Times, August 19, 2021
[link removed]
6. "Haiti Quake Toll Leaps to Nearly 2,000 Dead as Rain Pelts Survivors,"
The New York Times, August 17, 2021
[link removed]
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