[Peace-discuss] Afghanistan: Why?

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Questions like this one may lead us to recognize that Barack Obama, like most 
other US politicians, had bought into the geopolitical policies of America's 
tiny corporate elite - as a condition of his being taken seriously as a 
presidential contender. (Compare the fates of Ralph Nader and Ron Paul.) The war 
in Afghanistan was never about terrorism and always about US control of the 
region that contains most of the world's energy resources - the "world's 
greatest material prize" said the State Department after WWII - a region the 
approaches to which extend from North Africa to the Indus valley, and from 
Central Asia to the Horn of Africa.]


The Unanswered Question in Afghanistan Is, Why?
Wednesday 29 June 2011
by: Jim Hightower, Truthout | Op-Ed

Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, captured during the opening remarks at 
the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 
January 23, 2008. (Photo: Annette Boutellier / World Economic Forum)

America's long, long war in Afghanistan has drained more than 1,500 precious 
lives and a trillion dollars from our country. But, finally, this enormous 
outlay paid off this year with the capture and killing of that al-Qaida demon, 
Osama bin Laden, who attacked America and was the reason our military went into 
Afghanistan.

Oh, wait -- Osama wasn't in Afghanistan, was he? He was comfortably ensconced in 
an urban compound in Pakistan, whose leaders are supposedly our allies in the 
bloody Afghan War. And it wasn't the war effort that got bin Laden, it was 
old-time spy work, culminating in a raid involving a small team of Navy Seals, a 
dog and two helicopters.

So why have two presidents and a decade of Congress dumped so many lives and so 
much money into a country that poses no threat to us? Afghanistan is an 
impoverished, anarchic, largely illiterate land that's split into ancient tribal 
factions and innumerable fiefdoms controlled by rival warlords. They have no 
desire or ability to attack us, some 8,000 miles away.

The only reason we're given for being in Afghanistan is that we must keep the 
al-Qaida terrorists network from establishing bases there. But -- like bin Laden 
-- al-Qaida left this country years ago and now operates transnationally in 
Pakistan, Yemen, Uzbekistan and elsewhere, including England and Germany.

Yet, we're told we must continue to pour American lives, dollars and reputation 
into Afghanistan. But ... why? To create a central, democratically elected 
government with a 300,000-member army and police force, we're told. But why? To 
stabilize the country, they say. But, why? To keep al-Qaida out, they repeat, 
closing the endless loop on a Kafkaesque rational.

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Yes, President Obama has finally started a slow withdrawal of U.S. troops, but 
that'll take at least three years, more than $300 billion and untold numbers of 
shattered lives. The questions remains: Why?

At least one person was giddy with excitement upon hearing President Obama's 
announcement on June 22 that all of America's combat troops would depart from 
Afghanistan by 2014: Hamid Karzai.

"A moment of happiness for Afghanistan," exulted the incurably corrupt, inept, 
weak and pompous Afghan president. Our leaders put this ingrate in power, and 
both the lives of our soldiers and billions of our tax dollars have been spent 
to prop up his sorry excuse for a government -- yet he's the one saying "good 
riddance." It puts the dumb in dumbfounding.

The dumbest and most shameful aspect of America's 10-year Afghan War is the 
pretension that Karzai represents an exercise in democracy-building. Installed 
in the presidency by dictate of the Bush-Cheney regime in 2002, he is widely 
despised and ridiculed by the people and has clung to power only through 
flagrant electoral fraud, not only in his two presidential "elections," but also 
in last year's parliamentary contest.

Karzai was PO'd that 62 candidates he favored lost or were disqualified by the 
country's independent election commission because of fraud. So, Hamid haughtily 
set up his own special court to review those results, while also bringing 
criminal charges against several of the independent election commissioners.

Last week, only one day after Obama's withdrawal announcement, Karzai's kangaroo 
court disqualified the 62 parliamentary winners, replacing them with his chosen 
ones. Of course, the 62 winners are refusing to budge from their seats. This has 
created a governmental stalemate, but that suits Karzai perfectly, for it allows 
him the defacto power to rule without parliament. As a top opposition leader 
puts it: "Karzai does not believe in the rule of law; he thinks democracy 
doesn't work in his favor."

It's both insane and immoral for our leaders to cause even one more American to 
die for Karzai. Tell Obama to bring all of our troops home, pronto. The White 
House comment line is (202) 456-1111, or www.whitehouse.gov/contact.

http://www.truth-out.org/unanswered-question-why/1309351163