[Peace-discuss] Why is the Obama administration killing people?

[C. G. Estabrook]

[The Obama administration's justification for killing people in AfPak ("stopping 
terrorism") is so transparent -- less sophisticated in fact than the previous 
administration's case for killing people in Iraq -- as to reveal a contempt for 
real political discussion in the US.  Obama wrote, outrageously, that the 
biggest casualty of Vietnam war was "the bond of trust between the American 
people and their government." But he is attempting to establish that "bond of 
trust" now by lying, not by being candid about what his administration is doing. 
  The rest of the world knows that we're in AfPak to "deny terrorists a safe 
haven" in the sense that "terrorists" are those who oppose US military 
domination of the Mideast.  --CGE]

	October 07 2009
	Afghan Taliban say they pose no threat to the West
	By Sayed Salahuddin
	Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban pose no threat to the West but will 
continue their fight against occupying foreign forces, they said on Wednesday, 
the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that removed them from power.

U.S.-led forces with the help of Afghan groups overthrew the Taliban government 
during a five week battle which started on October 7, 2001, after the militants 
refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders wanted by Washington for the September 11 
attacks on America.

"We had and have no plan of harming countries of the world, including those in 
Europe ... our goal is the independence of the country and the building of an 
Islamic state," the Taliban said in a statement on the group's website 
www.shahamat.org.

"Still, if you (NATO and U.S. troops) want to colonize the country of proud and 
pious Afghans under the baseless pretext of a war on terror, then you should 
know that our patience will only increase and that we are ready for a long war."

U.S. President Barack Obama has said defeating the militants in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan is a top foreign policy priority and is evaluating whether to send 
thousands of extra troops to the country as requested by the commander of NATO 
and U.S. forces.

In a review of the war in Afghanistan submitted to the Pentagon last month, U.S. 
General Stanley McChrystal, in charge of all foreign forces, said defeating the 
insurgents would likely result in failure unless more troops were sent.

There are currently more than 100,000 foreign troops in the country, roughly 
two-thirds of who are Americans.

SAFE HAVEN

The Taliban statement comes at a time when Western officials warn that deserting 
Afghanistan could mean a return to power for the Taliban and the country could 
once again become a safe haven for al Qaeda militants, who could use it as a 
base to plan future attacks on Western countries.

The Taliban have made a comeback in recent years, spreading their attacks to 
previously secure areas. The growing insecurity has further added to the 
frustration of ordinary Afghans with the West and President Hamid Karzai's 
government, in power since the Taliban's ouster.

Since 2001, each year, several thousand Afghans, many of them civilians, have 
been killed in Afghanistan, with Taliban and al Qaeda leaders still at large 
despite the rising number of foreign troops.

In the statement, the Taliban said the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for its 
refusal to hand over al Qaeda leaders, was hasty and unjustified. Washington had 
not given leaders of the movement any proof to show the involvement of al Qaeda 
in the September 11 attacks, it said.

Washington was using the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan and in Iraq as 
part of its expansionist goals in the Middle East, central and southeast Asia, 
it said.

It recalled the defeat of British forces in the 19th century and the fate of the 
former Soviet Union in the 1980s in Afghanistan as a lesson to those nations who 
have troops in the country.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the withdrawal of 
foreign troops was the only solution to a conflict that has grown in intensity 
and has pushed some European nations to refuse to send their soldiers into 
battle zones or to speak about a timetable to withdraw from the country.

Some 1,500 foreign troops have also died in Afghanistan since the Taliban's 
ouster causing many nations to question the presence of its soldiers in the 
country and whether stability can ever be achieved eight years after the 
overthrow of the militants.

Editing by Sugita Katyal

Source: Reuters