[Peace] 1st pamphlet

[Al Kagan]

Here is the text of the first pamphlet from the IMC Media Group. 
There is a 2nd one to follow.  These will be available at the 
teach-in on Saturday.

The War Against Afghanistan

This pamphlet seeks to put the current U.S. "war against terrorism" 
in context and give an alternative interpretation than that found in 
the mass media and mainstream newspapers.  We hope it will give 
readers a chance to think about the deeper issues behind the current 
war and related "anti-terrorism" legislation.

Afghanistan's Troubled History

Afghanistan has been the victim of invaders from all sides since its 
earliest history.  For example, the territory has been ruled by 
Alexander the Great (329-327 B.C.), numerous Arab invaders (7th 
century A.D.), Genghis Khan (c1220), and Tamerlane (14th century). 
It first became a united state in 1747 under Ahmad Shah who founded 
the Durani dynasty.  Great Britain vied with Russia for control of 
Central Asia in the 19th century.  Britain fought two wars of 
con-quest (1838-42 and 1878-81), and formally took control of 
Afghanistan's foreign affairs in 1907.  Emir Amanullah won 
independence back from Britain in 1919, established a monarchy in 
1926, and began a modernization program.  The last king, Muhammad 
Zahir Shah, was overthrown in 1973 by Lt. Gen. Muhammad Daoud Khan 
who proclaimed a republic.  Doaud was overthrown in a coup in 1978, 
which established a reformist and pro-Soviet government under Noor 
Taraki.

In Cold War fashion, the C.I.A. along with the Pakistan Intelligence 
Service recruited and funded ($3 billion) the mujahedeen or holy 
warriors including Osama bin Laden to fight the Soviet "Evil Empire." 
At this time, the U.S. referred to the mujahedeen as "freedom 
fighters," even though they acted as brutally as the contras in 
Nicaragua and were partially funded through the drug trade. The 1979 
Soviet-backed coup eventually brought Babrak Karmal to power along 
with Soviet military occupation. A peace agreement was signed in 1988 
by the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Soviet 
troops were withdrawn in 1989. 

More than one and one-half million Afghans died and countless more 
were injured during the ten-year war against Soviet occupation.

Islamic fighters ousted President Najibullah in 1992, and civil war 
then ensued between various groups including the Taliban and those 
now known as the Northern Alliance. The Taliban, whose members were 
mostly trained in Pakistani Islamic schools, captured Kabul in 1996 
and extended control to Mazar I Sharif in 1998. The U.S. continued to 
support the Taliban until at least 1998.


Osama bin Laden

Bin Laden was born into a wealthy Saudi Arabian family. He is a 
veteran of the 1980s U.S. backed anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, 
which resulted in the expulsion of Soviet troops.  Working in 
alliance with the C.I.A., he led the Arab section of foreign Muslims, 
the mujahedeen, in that campaign and collected funds for his 
operations from affluent Saudi citizens.  Opposed to American foreign 
policy in the Middle East, he later became an active vocal critic of 
U.S. hegemony.  He has been a prime suspect in the 1998 bombings of 
the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.


The Afghan People

Afghanistan has about 20 million people in an area one-third larger 
than Texas.  It includes a number of ethnic groups with their own 
languages, including Pushtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and others. The 
Taliban is mainly supported in Pushtun areas and the Northern 
Alliance is mainly supported in Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara areas, but 
many people support neither group. Due to continued war, the country 
was already in ruins before the U.S. bombing, and most people live in 
poverty without access to services.  Before the current bombing, 
there were already 3.5 million Afghan refugees living in poor 
conditions in Pakistan, Iran and other countries.  Afghanistan is the 
most heavily mined country in the world with more than 10 million 
land mines in place.  20 to 25 people are blown up by land mines 
every day.


Enemies, Power and Oil Connection

U.S. Cold War policy aiding dictatorships to "fight communism" has 
shifted to aiding repressive regimes against Islamic fundamentalism. 
In both cases, the underlying purpose is to extend U.S. hegemony and 
to open markets and natural resources for the benefit of 
transna-tional corporations.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan is supposedly fighting the terrorist 
attacks of September 11th, but is really intended to demonstrate U.S. 
power as a warning to other governments. In addition, the U.S. will 
thereby gain access to oil and natural gas, and make the region safe 
for transnational corporations.

The Caspian Sea is reputed to have more oil than the Persian Gulf. 
The Russians exploited Afghan oil and natural gas during their 
occupation.  Natural gas was exported directly to the Russian energy 
grid through Uzbekistan. Transnational oil companies want to build a 
pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the 
Arabian Sea, but the Taliban made this impossible. Beginning in 1997, 
the Unocal Oil Corporation spent $20 million on this project. They 
hosted Taliban delegates in Texas and provided funding for a 
job-training program in Kandahar. Unocal also hosted some of the 
Northern Alliance warlords. Their spokesperson said, "If the Taliban 
leads to stability and international recognition, then it's 
positive." An U.S. Energy Information Ad-ministration September 2001 
report on the web emphasizes the potential importance of such a 
pipeline.


U.S. Security and Foreign Policy

We can take precautions against certain kinds of terrorism, but in 
the most basic sense our security depends upon just policies at home 
and towards the rest of the world. 

Hatred of the U.S. Government and its financial institutions doesn't 
arise from nowhere, and is not usually based on religious or cultural 
antagonisms.  Rather, the extremism that leads to suicidal attacks 
derives from very real and concrete policies. 

U.S. policy towards the Middle East has supported repressive regimes 
from Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf to Iran, Iraq and Israel.  The 
U.S. overthrew the democratically elected mildly leftist government 
of Iran in 1953 and installed the Shah. The Shah's repressive regime 
destroyed the left, setting the stage for the 1979 uprising, which 
installed an anti-American fundamentalist government. U.S. support 
for Saddam Hussein in Iraq strengthened his brutal regime and even 
encouraged Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.  Now, long-standing U.S. 
sanctions against this same government have resulted in over one 
million civilian deaths and continue to kill 4500 children per month. 
Putting large numbers of U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia during the 
Gulf War has angered Saudis who view this as sacrilege to their holy 
sites.  Bin Laden has exploited these feelings to raise large amounts 
from wealthy Saudi families. Massive U.S. support to Israel, 
including billions of dollars and the most advanced weapons, enables 
that coun-try to maintain and strengthen its occupation of 
Palestinian territories.  And when Israel and Palestine are inflamed, 
the whole region is also inflamed.


The Results of War

The war in Afghanistan may result in a coalition government, but the 
various factions within the Northern Alliance have shown their 
inability to cooperate with each other and their profound disrespect 
for human rights when they were in power from 1992 to 1996.

Although the Taliban has a record of brutal treatment of women, so 
does the U.S. supported Northern Alliance. The internationally 
recognized leader of the Afghan women's movement, the Radical 
Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), has been excluded from 
the talks that formed the new interim government.

It is likely that the Taliban will not give up but continue fighting 
a guerilla war. 

What was left of Afghanistan's infrastructure is now being destroyed, 
and thousands have been displaced, killed or injured.  It is unclear 
whether those civilians left will have a better quality of life after 
the bombing is over.  Whether or not Osama bin Laden is captured or 
killed, his terrorist network will remain. 

Those aggrieved by U.S. bombing and ground warfare may form a new 
generation of terrorists.


A military success in Afghanistan will likely lead to U.S. military 
actions against other countries, possibly Somalia, Yemen and Iraq. 
Furthermore, U.S. actions have emboldened the Israeli Government to 
increase military attacks against the Palestinian Authority and 
reoccupy areas of the West Bank and Gaza. These increasing tensions 
may have devastating unforeseen consequences.




What Can We Do?

We must raise our voices for ending military strikes, promoting 
peaceful negotiations, and providing massive humanitarian assistance 
for the people of Afghanistan. And we must loudly urge that all 
further actions in the "War Against Terrorism" be taken by peaceful 
means through the International Criminal Court or similar 
international judicial institutions. Furthermore we must oppose all 
attempts to restrict our civil rights in the name of national 
security. It is critical that we speak out now to oppose fur-ther 
military strikes, the destruction of more countries, the killing and 
maiming of civil-ians, and the erosion of civil liberties in our own 
country.

AWARE

Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort

To get involved, attend the AWARE meetings, Sundays at 6 PM at the 
Campus YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St. Champaign. E-mail: aware at grex.org
Tel.: 217-352-3670 or 586-6938.


December 2001
-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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