George Hartley has listed a number of articles by Malalai Joya on this blog. Joya is indisputedly one of the inspiring and courageous leaders from Afghanistan and from around the world addressing the issues related to Afghanistan, especially her position that US/NATO troops should all be withdrawn from her country. George, you are right on target when you share the interviews that Joya has been doing around the US to foster her viewpoint, one that you and many of us share.
In the next to last chapter of her book Woman Among Warlords, Joya spells out some of the things that the outside world can do to actually help Afghanistan. For purposes of generating further discussion on her viewpoint and perhaps giving readers an opportunity to connect it to other views and related topics, there are four sections that identify problems and courses of action, and then some further commentary later in the chapter.
Outline and notes on Chapter 14 of Malalai Joya's book, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice."
Joya writes, first, that the war should be ended. She encourages NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan to pull their troops out of the country. This would send a message to the US, the superpower, that this is a cause not worth pursuing. The leaders of NATO and other countries with military forces in Afghanistan should, Joya writes, "strongly condemn the tactics of night raids, torture, and aerial bombardment that only leads to an escalation of violence all around."
She adds that the occupation has been counterproductive. "The war in Afghanistan has fostered terrorism, even though the stated goal is to fight against it." Sadly, she continues: "The biggest beneficiaries of the conflict have been the extremis groups who take advantage of the legitimate grievances against NATO [including most of all the US]. She notes further that "terrorism isn't a person or a country....It's a tactic. How can you wage war against a tactice." In the DVD Rethinking Afghanistan, this point is underlined in references to how terrorists acts of Al Qaeda should be viewed not as constituing a war but as criminal activities that should be confronted by police and special forces from countries cooperating from around the world.
Joya also sees hypocricy in the US-led "war on terrorism. She writes: "In this hoax of a 'war on terror,' groups are labeled 'terrorist' depending on how useful they are to the goals of the United States. The United States calls the Taliban terrorists, but not the warlords who murder and rape innocents to impose their will on the people. And are not the night raids that US Special Forces carry out in Afghan villages acts of terror?" Joya concludes this section on ending the war with an appeal to President Obama, as she writes: "[He] would be wise to look into an exit strategy for Afghanistan, rather than following a policy of escalation that will create more terrorists and more hatred of America, while bringing only more misery and devastation to my country" (pp. 221-214).
The second section in this chapter is titled "Send Real Humanitarian Aid." She emphasizes that international aid to Afghanistan only amounts to about $7 million a day, while just what the Americans spend on their military occupation is about $100 million a day [probably doubling over the next year]. She continues: "The Congressional Budget Office says that the United States will spend $2.4 trillion over the next ten years on the 'war on terror' [that is, on military forces, intelligence assets, health care for veterans of the war, etc.]. She says that the paltry amounts of aid that have trickled into Afghanistan have too often been lost to corruption. Joya also views many Western NGOS as "corrupt," and points out: "The only 'reconstruction' projects that have taken place are some highways - and those are not even up to standard." Continuing: "Meanwhile, investment in power generation and agriculture has been woefully inadquate, with more dams needed and irrigation projects terribly underfunded." She thus takes the position that "Afghanistan needs intervention that will save lives, not intervention that ends lives or destroys people's means to eke out a livelihood. There are a great, small projects run by democratic-minded Afghans,but the money from the Western governments almost never reaches them." Joya then proposes: "A reliable mechanism to monitor and report on the distribution of all aid money is desperately needed, and there must be prosecution when misappropriation and embezzlement of funds is discovered."
"Put an End to the Rule of Warlords" is the heading of Joya's third section in this chapter. Her principal idea is this: "Instead of backing and shielding these warlords, and leaving them armed to the teeth, the international community should support their prosecution for war crimes." Joya does not make clear how this can be accomplished within the beleaguered country. But it is a necessary goal if Afganistan is to recover. The occupation only exacerbates war lordism.
In her fourth section, Joya says "Withdraw All Foreign Troops." These troops should begin to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible, along with "thousands of private soldiers - mercenaries - working in the country."
To avoid a devastating civil war as happened after the Soviet Withdrawal, especially from 1992 through 1996, "the international community must support and empower the democratic-minded individuals and parties who are able to fight the influence of extremism and bring real democracy to our country." And, additionally: "Only by disempowering the warlords and all fundamentalist groups can we really prevent the further Talibanization of Afghanistan."
How would this be accomplished? (1) "The United Nations must act to ensure that countries such as China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Russia cease their practice of intervening and influence peddling by sending and selling arms and weapons to warlords." (2) "If the United States and its NATO allies leave, the warlords will lose power because they have no base among our people."
After identifying NATO countries that face strong opposition from their own populations and/or are already withdrawing their troops (i.e., Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy), she modestly recommends some helpful activities in which citizens from America and elsewhere can engage. One, be "informed about the realty of Afghanistan today." Check out internet sites like www.rawa.org/temp/runews/ Two, "Get involved with groups that are working honestly to support women and men in Afghanistan, including with financial support....Progressive-minded Afghans working on humanitarian projects are desperately short of funds." She especially urges wealthy Afghans living in the West to contribute. Three, "Monitor, criticize, and work to improve your own government's foreign policy....[write] letters and e-mails to your elected representatives. Make appointments with them....
Near the end of this chapter, Joya writes: "Please understand that for us in Afghanistan, seeing that people all over the world are willing to stand publicly in solidarity with us in our hour of need has great moral value. Demonstrations for peace in the West in fact undermine the message of the fundamentalists that the people of North America and Europe are the enemy of the people in Muslim countries." She adds: "Wherever you are, take part in the political process and organize for social justice." We all must "fight to have a fair-minded, progressive government in our own country."
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Thanks for sharing these notes, Bob. This is exactly the kind of sustained analysis we need to be engaged in.
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