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Published on Saturday, April 4, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
MADRE Talking Points: Seven Reasons to Oppose a Troop Surge in Afghanistan
We know that elements in the military and Congress exerted great pressure on President Obama to ratchet up the war on Afghanistan. To achieve a more rational and peaceful outcome, we need to exert a counter-pressure. MADRE calls on the Obama administration to chart a whole new course in US-Afghan relations, based on the understanding that the US needs to engage with the rest of the world, not just occupy it.
Seven Reasons to Oppose a Troop Surge
1. More troops will mean more civilian casualties.
- Each year that the occupation drags on, more Afghan civilians are killed. In 2008 alone, more than 2100 civilians were killed, a 40 percent jump over 2007.
- The Taliban is known to attack villages where US soldiers have been. More US troops will make more civilians vulnerable to reprisal attacks.
2. More troops will not resolve the crisis.
- President Obama says the main goal is to stop al-Qaeda and prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base to launch attacks against the US. But he hasn’t explained how a troop surge would further that goal or produce any positive results for people in Afghanistan.
- Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates has written that, "The United States cannot kill or capture its way to victory."
- Intensifying the war will not address the underlying reasons for the resurgence of the Taliban, namely:
- popular outrage and fear of US attacks on civilians,
- the corruption of the Karzai government,
- and the support given to the Taliban by Pakistan.
These are political problems that cannot be solved by force.
3. A troop surge has already been tried—and it failed.
- In 2007, the number of US/NATO troops was increased by 45 percent. During that surge, more civilians were killed than in the previous four years combined.
4. Rampant abuses of Afghan women’s rights cannot be eliminated by force.
- The Bush Administration justified the invasion of Afghanistan by pointing to the Taliban’s systematic abuse of women. But subsequent US policies in Afghanistan did not uphold women’s human rights. As a result:
- 1 in every 3 Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence
- 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan
- Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth
- 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
- 30 percent of girls have access to education in Afghanistan
- 44 years is the average life expectancy rate for women in Afghanistan
5. US troops are backing an unpopular, corrupt government
- The US hand-picked Afghan President Hamid Karzai, betraying many Afghans’ hope for genuine democracy. Karzai’s government is seen as somewhere between inept and predatory.
- In its efforts to defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the US has brought to power notorious warlords, drug lords, and brutal militia leaders.
- 60 percent of Afghanistan’s Parliament are either warlords or have ties to warlords. One MP, Mohammad Mohaqiq, is accused of nailing prisoners to walls.
- Other government officials also stand accused of war crimes, but are protected from prosecution by a general amnesty.
- Fear of US-allied warlords and militias leads to increased support for the Taliban, which promises to restore law and order.
6. US Troops are Undermining Humanitarian Operations
- The US has militarized humanitarian aid by creating “provincial reconstruction teams” (PRTs) that blur the line between combat operations and aid delivery.
- The PRTs use humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip to extort information from civilians. The practice turns urgently-needed aid into a weapon of war and endangers recipients by associating them with the US military.
- Aid operations are already threatened by the occupation. Half the country is now inaccessible to UN aid workers. Attacks on aid workers have risen 400% since 2005, leading many agencies to scale back their programs.
7. Most Afghans Want the US Out
- Afghans have a long and proud tradition of resisting foreign occupation. The current US troop build-up is no exception.
- Afghan community groups, women’s organizations, and student movements have protested the occupation, but their voices are rarely heard in US media.
- More than 90 percent of Afghans polled by the BBC say they oppose the Taliban, but less than half see the US-led occupation as a positive alternative.
Afghan women want a surge in diplomacy, development and democracy, not troops. Here are 10 things we want to see on Obama’s to-do list for Afghanistan:
- Set a timetable for the withdrawal of US and NATO troops.
- End US missile strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Demilitarize aid operations and fund reconstruction efforts that benefit Afghans, not US corporations.
- Promote peace talks between all parties involved in the conflict. Negotiations should include women’s organizations and other progressive forces and uphold the principle that human rights, including women’s human rights, are non-negotiable.
- Compensate families and communities hurt by US military operations and pay war reparations.
- Support local models of governance, such as the Loya Jirga, not a charade of procedural democracy that empowers war criminals.
- Support demands of the Afghan women’s movement to end violence against women, ensure women’s access to critical services such as healthcare, education, food and water, and give real meaning to hard-won legal reforms meant to protect women’s rights.
- Create a fund to meet Afghans’ urgent humanitarian needs. After 30 years of intervention and war, the US owes Afghanistan nothing less.
- Support Afghan civil society, particularly women’s organizations, which are a crucial counter-force to warlordism, terrorism and government corruption and a key to rebuilding Afghan society.
- Recognize that ultimately, decisions about what happens in Afghanistan should be made in Afghanistan, not Washington.
- Posted in
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20 Comments so far
Show AllThis is as clear as it gets--so if our new president is really that smart--what will he do? I think he's more bought than smart--we're *^#*ed.
Our leaders still think they get to decide. We really don't have to worry too much about Afghanistan, since when all hell breaks loose here in the US, we wont have any resources left to affect much outside the US.
madre misses the point
ironically, afghanistan has nothing much to do with afghanistan
iraq has nothing much to do with iraq
that must be cold comfort to know that they are being killed in a sick mount everest moment twist - because they are there
nothing personal at all
in fact, we can assure them with the highest level of honesty, that we actually don't give one sweet fuck about them in any way whatsoever
they are just in the way
in the way of what you ask
1. zbigniew kazimierz brzezinski's dr stranglove plan of securing the oil
2. zbigniew kazimierz brzezinski's dr stranglove paln for defeating the russians and the chinese thereby ensuring american hegemony for the planet in perpetuity
3. to provide secure landlocked travel routes for the heroin that is pouring into europe
read zbig's book - he tells you all about it:
http://www.amazon.ca/Grand-Chessboard-American-Geostrategic-Imperatives/dp/0465027261
honestly, and from the bottom of our cold dead hearts, we don't give a shit about the afghans raping their wives or wearing towels on their heads
if they lived some place else we wouldn't even notice them
too bad
bad luck really
Sioux Rose
MA G: Was it Rumsfeld who said his administration was making its own reality? Then, too, there remains this idea that truth is the first casualty of war; and Bush let out a telling Freudian slip in stating he was "catapulting the propaganda."
A thing can only be treated if it is defined truly from the outset. Just as eight or so different "reasons" were used to "justify" the attacks on Iraq, a similar program of altering rationales is being tried on Afghanistan. Keep in mind that to the people at the controls war is just another product (Andrew Card) to be marketed.
One wonders if the political puppets sit at tables deciding which nation next to run some campaign of carnage against? Iran had been the chosen, but now--given our nation's lust for war--it seems to be Afghanistan arrived upon instead.
One serious difference in stirring this next hornet's nest (apart from the karmic blowback that has not yet fully impacted American society, the result of its inexcusable carnage wrought on Iraq) is that this area of the world DOES have atomic weapons. Just as Iraq was thrown into chaos with its three major ethnic groups left to fight among themselves, one can only imagine what the results will be in a part of the world better armed yet possessed of equally entrenched ethnic differences.
I wonder if US leaders are seeking a way to bring the world population down in addition to their plans to control gas & oil supplies at their sources? I believe 911 was an inside job, and that we are dealing with persons so absented of consciences that the death of others, whatever their nationality or ethnicity, is of NO consequence to their plans. Even on an economic scale, the naked sell-out of citizens to enrich the banker-caste demonstrates the levels of agony being visited upon everyman/everywoman without any iota of remorse on the part of the perpetrators. In fact, ALL of the mechanisms that allowed money to leak out into illusory frames of worth are still waiting to let yet more, like a misdirected tide, flow away.
The world's workers see what is going on and in time will find the means to throw over the tables of these moneychangers. In the meantime it is the heydey for a corruption so comprehensive as to see human life as utterly worthless.
SR:
i believe the quote you are thinking of is karl - the little nazi - rove, he said, in the run up to the election:
‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’ Rove continued. ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality–judiciously, as you will–we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
he was trying to relay his visceral hatred of liberals
it is telling to know that "reality" is a construct for these folks
mold it - twist it - do what you like
by this self-confessed take on reality we see the corporate media logic that israel is defending itself- the us is about freedom and democracy
orwell said it best: hate is love and love is hate
Sioux Rose
MA G: Yep! That's the quote! And the levels of arrogance in these Luciferic figures is beyond what decency can begin to imagine, so... this is where the law and Lords of karma kick in.
Is it just me, or does this sound like Viet Nam or what?
JFK and Khruschev did not realize that they were on a collision course for all out war until they made a secret peace deal after the Cuban Missile Crises.
That turned JFK around and He was starting to try and turn the military and Ship of State around when they shot him down in Dallas while Bush was running for Texas House seat on the Southern Strategy of JFK was a danger because he should have invaded CUBA and won the war with Russia.
I wonder if Obama has the guts to turn around too... and maybe sacrifice his life for truth, justice and more peace for all of us.
Look what happened to Jesus.... Maybe Obama figures if he overturns the tables of the money changers slow enough, the forces of the Dark Side won't notice.
-- elements in the military and Congress exerted great pressure on President Obama to ratchet up the war --
As I occasionally do, I offer to the Democratic Party a slogan for the next elections.
"Vote Democrat because there still aren't enough Democrats in Washington to overcome the Democrats already there who had a big part in getting us stuck in this mess and refuse to take any responsibility for cleaning it up."
I hope it helps.
From the article: "We know that elements in the military and Congress exerted great pressure on President Obama to ratchet up the war on Afghanistan."
Huh? Since Obama was already in favor of ratcheting up the war in Afghanistan to begin with, this comment makes absolutely no sense.
The only way I can see to stop the war is for Congress to force Obama to get out by cutting the funding. The only way Congress will do that is if we push them to.
A new war funding supplemental bill is coming up shortly, yet I'm not seeing any organized effort to get Congress to vote against it. Instead the organized peace movement, such as it is, is advocating stopping the surge, congressional hearings, and diplomacy. What are they afraid of, that peace activists might turn against a Democratic president? Isn't it about time?
http://tinyurl.com/warfunding
As long as funding for agressive wars can be kept out of the defense budget, all congress has to do is nothing. That automatically stops funding. Also it is congress that declares wars.
Congress needs to vote against war funding supplemental bills. That is politically risky for them, and they won't do it unless a whole lot of us push them to do it.
I'm frustrated by the general and often abstract tone of comments about these wars. We need to focus on concrete, specific things to do -- like telling our senators and representatives to vote against the next supplemental. Which is predicted by United for Peace & Justice to come up this Thursday.
"Oh my God, am I here, all alone?" -- Bob Dylan
# 8 The Afghans can and will kick our asses.
Tilting at windmills
Since every post to this thread is bullseye correct, it's fair to say that there's at least a consensus as to the whys & wherefores of the U.S. wars against Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan. The same holds for most other articles on commondreams (& other progressive sites); namely, us posters mostly have figured out what makes Empire-USA tick. What's missing? Articles and discussions as to what might be done to undo Empire, that's what. Why? Who knows, but perhaps it's because, for those of us who watch our government closely, it's so damn easy to figure out what they're up to. So we keep analyzing, predicting, condemning; valuable, true, but clearly not good enough, if, that is, our goal is to turn things around. What'll that take? Well, for starters, perhaps a switch (partial, at least) from the purely analytical to the where to from here & how we might get there. In other words we begin making our own history, as per the Donald Rumsfeld's statement (quoted above) about how history is made. Then it'll be Rumsfeld, Rove et all who'll be doing all of the analysis. That's not to say that our words will change the world but, based on prior world changing moments, words do matter.
I agree. There's no sense in posting here, if all it ever is a debate club.
From here, I think most of us want a world without war. This means that we need leaders and people who consistently reject war. To do that, the populace needs to reject dehumanization in both thoughts and actions. The concept of "US power" and the belief in moral/economic/social/political "superiority" (and correlated sense of entitlement) must be repudiated along with all the people and groups engaged in such. All (or at least most) of a transformed society must reflect this: schools, literature, families, businesses, popular culture, governments, churches, and so on. In short, this arrogant, domineering, greedy society must transform into a humble, thoughtful, and generous one, or we'll have no future.
To get there, anything that would inspire others to adopt the same beliefs would do. Really, any form of real interaction would work; the longer, the better (hence why parenting and teaching are the most well-known means of this). Of course, since no one's perfect, we should make a habit of analyzing our own actions for these instincts.
In the short term, for the impending resource wars, especially with Afghanistan and Iran, we should definitely use e-mail to spread the word. Not everyone reads Leftist sites, but at least this way, we can reach the friend of a friend that we otherwise might not reach (expand our support base). It's much easier than trying to jam our viewpoints across mainstream media.
If the war actually does escalate, Congress should hear daily calls for a funding cut. (Ideally, Congress shouldn't be able to focus on any other issue.) The mainstream media may not accept us at first, but we need to change the framing of war as a win/loss/stability/instability problem into a morality problem (,especially on the mercenary/robotic soldier issue. We should try to uproot these companies--change the laws, at least on a state or local level). Every time the mainstream media tells an (inflammatory) lie/omission about Iran/Israel (or any other country), we point this out, not only on here, but to our friends to spread the word.
Most people don't like the idea of war. That's why the media and President have to work so hard with their dehumanizing nonsense called PR.
I'm usually too general, but I haven't done nearly enough study or practice in the specifics.
Tailfeather,
For sure yours is a vision worth struggling for. Seems to me, though, that if indeed it's now or never (based on global warming + perpetual war + economic collapse = doomsday), and, since right now there's a populist mood sweeping the country, doesn't it follow that the immediate task is to find a way to turn this populism into a mass movement? If that's the case, no problem, because when it comes to outreach could there be a more suitable technology than the Internet? It's as if these perpetual wars and bailouts have stoked the resistance to authority that lies within each of us, and that through the Internet, what otherwise would be but short-lived and insignificant glimmerings of hope, can become, instead, magnificent and sustained collective advances. And once the spirt of resistance (Yes We Can) catches hold, not to forget that a people united will never be defeated.
I've been reading Derrick Jensen's "Engame" lately. one of his assertions is that western civ is inherently and necessarily violent, that it must within its own definitions of itself, be constantly making war on somebody, because civilization is not sustainable, and therefor must seize its resources by force from other people, people who can be beaten by force of our huge weapons.
the more i thought about this, the more i felt stupid for hollering on the web about how mean and nasty the u.s. assault on Afghanistan is. As if the suits in washington were rational humans who could be moved by such pleading.
I'm pretty sure this is not far from how Sioux Rose talks about the military industrial congressional cabal that will have its wars no matter what we say
but take a look at Derrick's books anyway.
Given: Most men want to kill because it is in our genes. Given: Some of us men want to help our fellow man because we are at heart humanists. So what to be done? Do not give up on the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines because they will come in handy. Every time a disaster hits humanity we sent in the FORCES with food, meds, desalination stations., and anything that will help them (no not Katrina like). the guys that like to kill can still be useful by guarding homes, businesses and the camps that will be set up. By doing something along those lines we can live up to our ideals, promote fairness and honesty (something in short supply) and protection and still possibly undo the damage of the last 8 years. Oh by the way the quote from Rove was from 1984 when O'Brien was trying to break Winston and told him that they make their own reality. But Winston came back and tried to make his point that mankind had a nature and that would ultimately destroy what O'Brien was trying to do. Read the book it is still relevent today with FOX, Rush, and the other insanities out there.
Reason is not what drives Washington's political machine.
A combination of ideology and lust for power (or money which is really the same thing in our society) does.