Afghan authorities would have been better able to cope with the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake that killed more than a thousand people if they weren’t so savagely isolated by the international community. Already terribly short of funds and battling droughts and famines in different parts of the country, the Afghans could not have been more unprepared for the blow dealt by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Now everybody’s rushing to deliver humanitarian supplies yet appreciated as the effort is, it is falling well short of the kind of help that Afghanistan needs right now and circumventing all sorts of sanctions is taking too long for most countries to be able to offer anything except their sympathy. However, it’s also true that the Taliban administration is itself largely responsible for being left behind by other countries. It violated almost all the terms of agreement reached in Doha just ahead of the US withdrawal, which included amnesty for the previous regime’s staff, equal rights for minorities and women, and especially education and work opportunities for girls. And the government in Kabul did it despite the financial crunch because it understood very well that international aid, the country’s lifeline, will not flow into it till it honours the agreement in full. As a result, the first unforeseen emergency caught it completely off guard and now it cannot step up relief efforts even if it wanted too. Of course, it goes without saying that the UN should help a wide international effort that is able to bypass sanctions and restrictions and get maximum aid into the country in minimum possible time. It’s a very good sign that the US, the main force pushing the sanctions, started delivering aid even before Kabul asked for it. Other countries should do the same. And once this crisis is handled, Afghan authorities should revisit their decision of not playing along with the international community even after promising to do so. *