Afghanistan: our other dirty war
Questions and answers
Faced with pressure from Washington to commit more troops to either Iraq or Afghanistan, we chose Afghanistan. In 2006, over 3,000 additional British troops will be sent to Afghanistan. But insurgent attacks rose sharply in 2005 and, according to military officials, are likely to worsen in 2006. Now, Taliban commander Mullah Omar has threatened a major rebel resurgence against foreign forces.
A myth about our adventures in Afghanistan is that we are fighting a "just" war:
The Taliban were an evil regime that oppressed women.
'Liberals' and women's rights activists have been raising concerns since the Taliban took power. But bombing and then invading a country is not helping the women we claim to be standing up for. The truth is the major casualties in any modern war are women and children. No longer do armies face armies in distant battlefields. Hospitals, schools and people's homes are the battlefields. Women and children are now "collateral damage". How does this view of the deaths of civilians stand up next to our claims to be "liberating" them?
Another truth is that the position of women in most parts of Afghanistan is little better than under the Taliban.
British troops will be "peacekeeping" in Afghanistan.
Actually, they will be aiding the US military in their occupation of Afghanistan and safeguarding oil pipelines. The Afghan elections saw the warlords that we have got into bed with use murder and intimidation tactics to gain "legitimate" power. Despite widespread complaints, very few were banned from participating in the electoral process.
We needed to attack Afghanistan in order to get Osama bin Laden.
Osama bin Laden probably wasn't in Afghanistan by the time we launched strikes against the country. The lie that this is why we attacked the Afghan people has been exposed by our willingness - and rush - to divert attention and resources away from the hunt for bin Laden to the illegal and immoral attack on Iraq.
NEWS LINKS
- Eric Margolis on why Canada should pull their troops out - March 06
- "Suicide ready" Taliban wait for British troops - Mar 06
- The Washington Post on the "growing threat" in Afghan insurgency -
Mar 06
- Afghanistan " more dangerous than Iraq " - Feb 06
- Afghanistan five years on - Feb 06
- "Losing hearts and minds" - Feb 06
- US soldier guilty of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan - Jan 06
- Simon Jenkins in The Times on why Britain will fail in Afghanistan - Jan 06
- Paul Rogers in Open Democracy on the escalating conflict in Afghanistan
Jan 06
- The Scotsman on the foreign fighters flooding into Afghanistan - Jan 06
- UK military fears "big losses" in Afghanistan according to The Times -
Jan 06
- UN official: Afghan strategy "not working" - Nov 05
- Amnesty International: "More deaths and impunity" in Afghanistan - Oct 05
- Counterpunch on war crimes in Afghanistan - Oct 05