America’s second 9/11 tragedy occurred in Afghanistan

Born in the ancient Afghan city of Herat, I became an American citizen this year. With each passing year, the arrival of September 11 stirs within me a conflicted maelstrom of emotions.

For me, this day is a dual tragedy — a somber reminder of the heartache suffered by my fellow Americans and the tragic prelude to the devastating fate that would befall my homeland, Afghanistan.

My own life has moved with the ebb and flow of U.S. engagement with Afghanistan and the war there. During the height of the crisis in the late 1980s, when the U.S. was supporting the anti-Soviet mujahideen resisting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, there were more than 6 million Afghan refugees. My own family was among them. We sought refuge in Iran and then endured a 17-year wait before returning to a liberated homeland. 

In Iran, Afghan refugees were treated as unwelcome visitors. Within the classroom, Afghan students were consigned to the back row, undeserving of sitting up front. I learned to hide my Afghan identity, as it wasn’t immediately apparent from my appearance. Yet I was profoundly disturbed by the widespread discrimination and humiliation faced by Afghan refugees in my community.

To know that my people are once again enduring this shameful treatment in their own nation haunts me.

Conversations within our family were often dominated by news from Afghanistan, featuring stories of oppression, public lashings of women, poverty and the ongoing refugee crisis. I vividly recall the distressing image of the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues being destroyed, and the profound trauma it left on my mother’s tearful face as she watched the news. Equally memorable was the joy that swept through our family when the Taliban regime was toppled by American forces, prompting everyone to make plans for their long-awaited return to Afghanistan.

America’s despair and patriotic fervor after the 9/11 attacks solidified support for the war effort. The Bush administration wanted to protect the homeland. Afghans actively supported U.S. military operations, resulting in the removal of the Taliban regime in less than six weeks. This support also led to the return of millions of refugees. For Afghanistan, this moment offered a unique opportunity to shed the dark years of Taliban rule and transform itself. 

It was a chance for my personal transformation too. After the U.S. invasion, I moved from Tehran to Herat and experienced my first taste of democracy. My family and I participated in our inaugural presidential and parliamentary elections, where, despite their flaws, we witnessed enthusiastic men and women lining up at polling stations.

Democracy took root, embedding values like human rights, gender equality and diversity in government, schools and workplaces. I joined a non-governmental organization focused on human rights and gender equality, allowing me, as a young woman, to do the unimaginable and travel freely across the country and advocate for Afghan women in front of men of diverse ethnic backgrounds. With each journey, I saw concrete improvements in women’s participation in the life of the country.

The dark days of gender apartheid, social injustice and tyranny were gradually fading, thanks to the transformation that both Afghans and Americans had worked tirelessly to advance. 

In August 2021, I watched in sorrow as the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, which had begun less than a month after 9/11, came to a bloody conclusion, leaving behind a tragic aftermath. I thought about the unraveling of the profound social transformations in Afghanistan, achieved at the tremendous cost of countless U.S. and Afghan lives and trillions of dollars.

Regardless of how the world perceives U.S. involvement in Afghanistan — as a mission to uphold human rights or as retribution for the 9/11 attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 American lives — my perspective has always centered on the idea of sharing American values with a nation that had long been denied dignity. I knew countless Americans who went to Afghanistan with genuine intentions to bring about positive change in a society that had endured immense suffering.

The tangible goodwill and actual progress they were making was obvious to anyone paying attention at the time. This year’s 9/11 anniversary holds a doubly tragic significance for me, as nearly all the strides achieved through U.S. and Afghan sacrifices have regrettably crumbled away, leaving a void where hope once thrived.

Nazila Jamshidi is a gender equality and human rights specialist involved in Afghanistan’s development and democracy process for more than a decade.