Some reasons why we want to end the war in Afghanistan

We at this blog want an end to US involvement in Afghanistan. The articles that have been submitted to the blog have identified and documented many of the reasons for this stance. First of all, the US state policy of intervening in Afghanistan (and Iraq, and threatening Iran) is terribly misguided. It is publicly premised on the untenable notion that military force is abolutely necessary for achieving "stability" in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region. Along with the focus on military solutions, US decision-makers use of the war on terrorism rhetoric to confuse and generate fear in the US public.

For some of us, the real premises are hidden. What are they? The hidden agenda revolves around the strategic location of Afghanistan, the oil and other resources of the region, and the heightened competition for these resources from countries like Russia and China. In short, US policy is not so much about helping the Afghans and "nation building," as it is about various US interests, as identified by those who wield power at the Pentagon and in our government. In other words, it is an imperialist project, which be definition makes it un-democratic, blatantly exploitative, and inherently illegal. It is a project that overshadows the real interests of the Afghan people and American citizens and taxpayers.

In the meantime, US citizens are saddled with a host of counter-productive, corrupt, and wasted resources on Afghanistan, reflecting a bankrupt policy largely of US government and corporate elites. Here are some examples of the themes you may see documented by the posts on the blog.

The Karzai government is dominated by warlords and legitimated by rigged elections. Much of the country is under the sway of warlords or the Taliban and related forces. Tribal leaders either go along with the warlords or the Taliban or end up being murdered or forced to flee. The funds for the Taliban or warlords comes from the drug business, from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (in the case of the Taliban), from siphoning off some of the money from US contracts and military projects (in the case of the warlords), and from "taxes" on those who use local transportation routes under the control of Taliban or warlords. There is little progress in creating an Afghan army or police force and both are currently adding to the problem of corruption. A substantial portion of the money from the US to Afghanistan goes to highly inflated, and cost-plus private contracters and sub-contractors, and to highly-paid foreign consultants, with little of the money benefitting ordinary Afghans or their communities. The conditions of the people are getting worse as reflected in high absolute poverty rates, unemployment, a dysfunctional infrastructure (e.g., electrical grid, water treatment plans, sanitation facilities) and greatly under-supported schools, the almost non-existence of even minimally adequate health services, and the absence of other basic services. Women and children are disproportionately the victims of these policies, especially as they remain or come under the sway of highly repressive patriarchal family and community systems and a legal system that reinforces this repression.

It's not all bleak. You are also likely to be inspired by some of the items on our blog, especially those that refer to the interviews with Malalai Joya and to her book, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared To Raise Her Voice. She has directly confronted both the Karzai government as an elected official and spoken out against the warlords. She has faith that there is a strong well of democracy among the Afghan people and that someday it will rise up in the form of a democratic movement. However, she thinks the US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan is a great obstacle to the democratic tendencies. The end of the occupation will, she thinks, remove one big obstacle that deters such tendencies from surfacing.