[Peace-discuss] Dear Britain: "Get Out of Afghanistan, So We Can Get Out"

[C. G. Estabrook]

How can one argue that "the presence of British military forces in Afghanistan 
is being used to /*justify/* the presence of American military forces in 
Afghanistan"?  Perhaps only in the sense that the USG can speak of a "coalition" 
  occupying Afghanistan -- pretending slightly to cover as it were the obvious 
imperialist behavior of the US.  But does anyone believe that?

It's revealing that, when the dispute blew up in the UK over dead soldiers in 
Afghanistan, the great worry of American officials was not that Britain would 
withdraw its troops -- they didn't seem very concerned about that -- but that 
/*the debate would spread to the US populace/*:

"Bruce Riedel, an analyst [I.E., EX-CIA] at the Brookings Institution who pulled 
together the Obama administration's policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan 
this year, said: 'The British are crucial to the Nato mission in Afghanistan. 
[WHY?  HE EXPLAINS:] Public opinion here [IN THE US] will be affected negatively 
against the war if our key ally in Helmand starts to look for a path out'"!

Riedel chaired Obama's "Afghanistan review" at the beginning of this 
administration. His astonishing bit of candor is from the FT, July 16, 2009.

--CGE


Robert Naiman wrote:
> Gordon Brown faces fresh questions over the war in Afghanistan at this
> month's Labour party conference, with grassroots activists circulating
> a motion demanding that troops be withdrawn, the Guardian reports. I'd
> give anything to address this conference. I'd wait until people gave
> speeches arguing that Britain had to keep its troops in Afghanistan
> out of friendship with the United States. Then I'd ask to be
> recognized, and I'd say,
> 
> "As an American, I thank the honorable gentlemen and ladies for their
> kind words of friendship towards the people of the United States. I
> assure you, as you know very well, that the feelings are reciprocated.
> But I beg you, in the name of humanity: show your love differently
> than by continuing to support this war...the presence of British
> military forces in Afghanistan is being used to justify the presence
> of American military forces in Afghanistan...If you love America, if
> you love Americans, show your love by passing this resolution put
> forward by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy demanding the
> withdrawal of British troops of Afghanistan. Help America. Help
> America to get its own troops out of Afghanistan. Get out of
> Afghanistan, so we can get out."
> 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/dear-britain-get-out-of-a_b_278336.html
> 
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/6/777781/-Dear-Britain:-Get-Out-of-Afghanistan,-So-We-Can-Get-Out
> 
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/323
> 
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
> 
> Senator Feingold Calls for Timetable for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/exit-afghanistan
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