Additional reasons to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan

Here are parts of what you can find today (July 1, 2010) on Juan Coles' award-winning blog, Informed Comment. One focuses on rising US troop deaths in Afghanistan, which appear to be the result of growing aggressiveness by group identified as Taliban. The other part reports that the US Congress has cut $4 billion out of civilian aid to Afghanistan.

In short, Gen. Patraeus maintains that rising troop casualties are to be expected as the counter-insurgency strategy is implemented. The Congress justifies its reduction in civilian aid to Afghanistan by saying that too much of it ends up in the wrong hands and for unintended purposes.

From our perspective, these two examples provide additional evidence that the US occupation of Afghanistan is mired in chaotic conditions, that US troops are suffering from the make-it-up-as-you-go occupation and interventions. And, further, the White House and US Congress should withhold additional funding for Afghanistan and affirm their support for a substantial and continuing withdrawal of troops no later than in July 2011,


Posted on July 1, 2010 by Juan

As the Senate confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as commander of US troops in Afghanistan, CNN estimated that 101 NATO troops (including Americans) were killed in June, the highest total ever since the NATO presence began in 2001. The Pentagon maintains that such a spike in troop deaths is to be expected given the counter-insurgency push that began this winter, in which troops were given the task of ‘taking, clearing, holding and building’ in Pashtun territory.

Taliban guerrillas boldly attacked a NATO air base at the eastern Pashtun city of Jalabad on Tuesday. A Taliban spokesman said that the operation was intended to send a signal to Gen. Petraeus, that they considered him no different from any other general. At least one NATO soldier was killed in the assault becoming death number 101 for June). A Taliban spokesman said that six of them detonated their payloads or were killed, while 4 escaped. NATO said that there were 6-8 attackers and all were killed. The Pajhwok News Agency reports, “A top Afghan army official on the base, Col. Jahangir Azimi, said six attackers, equipped with two machine guns, automatic rifles and a rocket launcher, stormed the airbase from its northern gate. One bomber blew himself up at the gate and the rest of the attackers infiltrated the camp, he added. Two of the bombers were killed by Afghan soldiers and three others were hunted by NATO choppers which were immediately called after the explosion, Col. Azimi further said.”

Aljazeera English has video:

The battle of Marawara in the eastern Kunar province between NATO forces and Taliban continued on Wednesday. It began on Sunday, when two US troops and a third NATO soldier were killed.

Meanwhile, Congress cut $4 billion out of civilian aid to Afghanistan, owing to fears that it was just being eaten up by corruption. Afghanistan is listed as the second most corrupt country in the world after Somalia by Transparency International, and reports have circulated for months about mysterious large shipments of cash out of Kabul airport to Dubai. It has also been alleged that money paid to security contractors in Afghanistan who oversee the safety of US convoys is often in turn paid out to Taliban as a bribe not to attack the convoys. Still, the civilian aid money is crucial to the Obama administration’s counter-insurgency campaign, and it had been hoped that providing, e.g., more electricity to Pashtun areas such as the city of Qandahar might help NATO and the Karzai government blunt the appeal of the Taliban there. Apparently, though, the money was not so much denied as put in escrow until a better general accounting system can be put in to keep track of it.