August 15 marks the one-year anniversary of the day the Taliban captured Kabul in 2021. A rare protest was held by women demanding rights. The Taliban broke up the protest by firing their guns into the air.

When the Taliban were left to control Afghanistan in 2021 because of Joe Biden’s inept and incompetent withdrawal from the country, the administration lamely told Americans to not worry, the Taliban promised to allow women the same rights they enjoyed for twenty years while they were out of power. No one with half a brain would believe a word coming out of the mouths of Taliban leaders, but we’re talking about Joe Biden here.

Almost immediately, women were told to burqa up or at least wear head coverings. Women were told to stop showing up for their government jobs and return home. Just like in the bad old days, women are not allowed to be on the streets without a male family member to escort them. They are not allowed to travel more than 45 miles. Girls and women are no longer allowed to pursue secondary education. If a woman does not comply with the rules, her male guardians could be sent to jail for three days.

This is all a huge life change for girls born during the years of the Afghanistan war who never knew life under the rule of the Taliban. About 40 women showed up in Kabul to protest for the return of their rights.

This was one of the rare women’s protests since the Taliban takeover. The Taliban broke up the protest by firing guns into the air. They took the cell phones of the women. The women carried a banner that read “August 15 is a black day” and chanted, “Bread, work, and freedom.”

“They didn’t beat us much this time,” one of the protesters told the BBC.

“They acted differently than earlier protests [when we were beaten]. They fired shots in the air. Though we’re afraid we came out to advocate for the rights of girls, so that at least the Taliban will open schools for them.”

The denial of education is a big sticking point. It goes against the Taliban’s alleged promises made to the U.S.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world that officially limits education by gender – a major sticking point in the Taliban’s attempts to gain international legitimacy.

Girls have been banned from receiving secondary education, the ministry for women’s affairs has been disbanded, and in many cases women have not been allowed to work.

One woman explained why they were protesting.

Activist Zholia Parsi said some of the women were detained by the Taliban.

“This protest was against the Taliban’s one year in power because they don’t have any agenda for governing, girls’ schools are still closed, women are being fired from their jobs for no reason, poverty is increasing, so for all good reasons we were protesting.”

The withdrawal from Afghanistan was a turning point for Joe Biden’s presidency. He foolishly believes he is the smartest person in the room and, in this case, did not listen to Pentagon advisers and military leaders. He did it his way and we all watched in horror the results of his actions. It is reported that there are still about 80,000 people left in Afghanistan who should have been given the opportunity to leave because of the agreements the U.S. military made with Afghan helpers.

Biden’s poll numbers began to tank in the aftermath of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He hasn’t recovered. The Taliban are back, as are the bad old days.