[Peace-discuss] Pro-war propaganda

[C. G. Estabrook]

The following seems to me to be a good example of the most dangerous sort of 
pro-war propaganda we face.  It's not a neocon rant but a liberal expression of 
critical support for the war in Afghanistan.  Instead of explaining why the US 
should get out, it suggests how the US can more comfortably stay in -- i.e., how 
the US can "maintain our troop strength" in a country we invaded (primarily, it 
is suggested, by being more culturally sensitive -- e.g., don't blow away 
wedding parties -- but put in terms of a condescending pop anthropology).

There's no consideration of why the US is spending so much money and lives in 
Afghanistan -- it's taken for granted that we should, apparently as part of the 
"war on terrorism."  It elides the various excuses offered by the Bush 
administration for the attack on Afghanistan (get ObL, revenge for 9/11, 
overthrow the Taliban) and comes close to feeding the mythology that the Taliban 
attacked the US on 9/11/01.  And it ignores the US refusal to negotiate with the 
Taliban in 2001 over a trial for ObL.

"If we leave immediately, I fear that violence would devastate that country." 
But the US has brought the violence that is now devastating the country. Killing 
Pushtun tribesmen to "stop terrorism" is as much a lie as killing Vietnamese 
peasants to "stop communism." (And there were plenty of liberals who offered 
"critical support" for that.)

	Afghanistan: A Way Forward
	Tuesday 16 December 2008
	by: Maya Schenwar, t r u t h o u t
	An interview with Stephen Kinzer.

     Last week, with President-elect Obama's blessing, Defense Secretary Robert 
Gates announced the beginning of a troop "surge" in Afghanistan...

<http://www.truthout.org/121608R>