EU invites Taliban to Brussels on deportations, angering rights groups

The public wants the borders sealed, which is precisely why the European Commission has decided to invite the Taliban to Brussels. It is a curious alchemy, this modern democratic sorcery, wherein the desire for order is so desperate that it will accept any hand that offers a broom, provided the hand is not currently holding a sword. The people, in their infinite wisdom and profound laziness, have decided that the presence of migrants is a nuisance to be removed, and the bureaucrats, in their infinite cunning and profound cowardice, have decided that the most efficient way to remove them is to shake hands with the very men who put them in the position of needing removal in the first place. It is a transaction of the soul, conducted in the sterile, air-conditioned corridors of the EU, where morality is treated as a variable to be optimized rather than a principle to be upheld.

One must admire the sheer audacity of the logic. The European Commission, that great engine of bureaucratic self-perpetuation, has looked upon the Taliban - a regime that treats women as property, journalists as targets, and dissent as a capital offense - and seen not a barbarism to be condemned, but a partner to be utilized. The invitation to Brussels is not an act of diplomacy; it is an act of surrender. It is the admission that the West has lost the will to enforce its own values, preferring instead to outsource its moral failures to those who have never had any. The human rights groups are raising the alarm, of course, but they are shouting into a wind tunnel. The public does not care about the rights of the oppressed in Kandahar; it cares about the cleanliness of its own streets in Berlin and Paris. The public wants the problem gone, and it does not care if the solution is a lie.

This is the great triumph of the Booboisie: the elevation of convenience over conscience. The median European voter, that dull and docile creature, has been told that democracy is a system for delivering comfort. When comfort is threatened by the arrival of the poor, the refugee, or the unwanted, the democratic machinery grinds into reverse. It seeks a shortcut. And what is the shortcut to solving a human problem? A political one. Invite the oppressor to the table. Discuss the logistics of deportation. Sign the papers. Let the Taliban do the dirty work, and let the EU keep its hands clean, or at least its hands busy with paperwork. It is a masterpiece of moral evasion. The Commission is not negotiating with the Taliban; it is negotiating with its own guilt. It is buying a certificate of innocence, paid for in the currency of human dignity.

The stakes, as the alarmists say, are high. But the real stake is not the fate of the migrant, who is already a pawn in this game. The real stake is the integrity of the West’s self-image. For decades, the West has preached that power must be legitimized by consent and that human rights are universal. To invite the Taliban to Brussels is to admit that these are merely slogans, useful for rallies but useless for governance. It signals to every oppressive regime on earth that if you are strong enough to control your population, you are welcome at the table. It tells the dictators of the world that their brutality is not a barrier to partnership, but a credential. The Taliban, for their part, will likely accept the invitation with the same grace they show to their own citizens: with a smile and a threat. They will see the invitation not as a validation of their rule, but as a validation of their power. And they will be right.

The human rights groups are correct to be alarmed, but they are fighting a ghost. They are arguing against a policy that has already been decided by the silent majority of the indifferent. The public does not want justice; it wants quiet. It wants the noise of the refugee crisis to stop, even if the silence is bought with the blood of the oppressed. The European Commission knows this. It knows that the public will cheer the deportation deals and ignore the moral cost. It is a classic case of the politician flattery the masses into giving him power over them, by promising to remove the things they find inconvenient. The politician says, “I will make the world safe for you,” and the public says, “Thank you,” without asking what “safe” means or who pays the price.

In the end, this is not a story about migration. It is a story about the bankruptcy of liberal virtue. The West has decided that it is too tired to be good. It has decided that being good is too expensive, too difficult, too inconvenient. So it has chosen to be efficient. It has chosen to be pragmatic. And in doing so, it has revealed itself to be not a beacon of liberty, but a merchant of convenience. The Taliban will go to Brussels. They will sit in the chairs. They will sign the papers. And the West will sleep better at night, dreaming of a world where the borders are closed and the conscience is quiet. It is a dream worth having, if you have no soul.