Twitter
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Delicious
Digg
Newsvine
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiThe Rotten Fruits of War
Five months ago, shortly after the Pakistani government had begun a military offensive against suspected Taliban fighters in the northernmost area of the country, we arrived in Islamabad, the capital, as part of a small delegation organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org). Our initial travel plans had focused on learning more about civilian suffering caused by U.S. drone attacks. But, over the course of our three-week visit, close to 3 million people had become uprooted by violence in the Swat Valley and neighboring districts. Visiting tent encampments and abandoned buildings to which people had fled, we spoke with people who identified themselves as poor people, with meager resources, who were anxious to return to their homes as soon as possible. They were also alarmed because they feared that their crops, animals, shops and stores were already destroyed.
Now that the military offensive in Swat has wound down, Pakistan's government officials have labeled the operation a success. They claim to have cleared the area of Taliban fighters and have commenced a new military offensive in South Waziristan.
A closer look reveals a very different story.
Many families from Swat and surrounding districts returned to find that their homes, crops and other means of survival have been damaged or destroyed. Such circumstances force many to rely heavily on food aid. According to Amjad Jamal, a spokesperson for the World Food Program (WFP), "around 2.4 million displaced people received aid from the WFP food hubs last month."
The WFP announced today that they are temporarily closing 20 food hubs in the North West Frontier Province citing concerns of worsening security.
Reporting from a Pakistani field hospital run by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the BBC met with scores of victims wounded by land mine explosions. The father of a 14 year old boy whose hands were blown off while he was playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance expressed anger over the government's failure to remove the land mines before telling people it was safe to return. The father worked as a jeweler before the military offensive began, but after he and his family fled the fighting, his shop was looted; now he has no income, and his home was damaged in the shelling.
The BBC also reported that more than 200 corpses, believed to be bodies of suspected Taliban, have been found across the valley in recent weeks. Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission has called for an investigation into reports of numerous extra-judicial killings and reprisals carried out by security forces.
Dr. Aasim Sajjad, a professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, believes that the Taliban's numbers will grow as a result of Pakistan's military offensives. "The hundreds of thousands languishing in refugee camps talk of the mortar shells that have destroyed their homes and killed their relatives," says Dr. Sajjad. "They seethe with anger and warn the government that most Taliban fighters hail from the local population. The longer the war continues -- and it has only just begun in this region -- the better the chances that the Taliban will be able to recruit from the refugees." (Monthly Review "War, Islamists and the Left," July 7, 2009)
Yesterday's deadly suicide bombing at the Islamic University in Islamabad was the latest in a series of the Taliban's recent reprisal attacks against the Pakistani government that have claimed the lives of over 150 people.
Military offensives that promise to smash or eradicate "the bad guys" may accomplish short-term "successes" by locking up or killing armed resisters and promising that the military will provide peace and security. But military establishments aren't set up to address the long-term, desperate grievances that afflict impoverished people and give rise to support for militant groups of resisters.
According to conservative estimates, 75% of Pakistan's population of 170 million lives on less than $2 a day. The majority of Pakistanis yearn for food security, clean water, a livelihood that can sustain their families and education that will help their children break out of impoverishment. Young men who are jobless, shut out of education are resentful of social structures that favor wealthy landowners and other elites and they are drawn to Taliban groups that promise a Robin Hood sort of redistribution. These Taliban groups have been dealt a temporary setback by the military offensive, but the fundamental problems of hunger, lack of clean water, illiteracy and joblessness haven't been tackled.
Meanwhile, U.S. drone attacks continue, in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Using "eyes in the skies" by piloting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, (UAVs or drones), the U.S. analysts can see and attack suspected Taliban or Al Qaida fighters, along with anyone else who might happen to be in the vicinity. But the UAVs won't help us understand the acute need for humanitarian relief, diplomacy, negotiation and dialogue in a region already overwhelmed by attacks, counter-attacks, bloodshed and death.
Whether it is in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq or even in the U.S., as we've seen in recent years, war takes its heaviest toll on the poorest. It is a profound mistake to believe that military force is a solid foundation for peace.
20 Comments so far
Show AllKathy Kelly is so deserving of an International Peace Prize Award....
Kathy Kelly is simply an amazing and courageous woman who was taking on the likes of Richard Perle BEFORE the war on Iraq. I suggest you all read Kathy Kelly's Open Letter to Mr. Perle at counterpunch.org as well.
Kathy Kelly never shows one ounce of inconsistency in her fight for peace, justice, and the fight against world poverty and commitment to children the world over. There are very few truly great and moral human beings like Kathy Kelly!!!!!
As the authors wrote, "war takes its heaviest toll on the poorest."
Yes.
If anyone who I cared about was considering signing up for the military, I would do whatever I could to convince him/her to not go into the military.
My idea of a perfect America would be if NO ONE voluntarily signed up for the military. Then if the government started a draft, EVERYONE would refuse to go into the military.
What then, could the government do? They can't lock everyone up.
One exception would be if we needed to fight a war such as World War II. Almost everyone realized that was a war which was necessary and valid to be fighting.
It has been wrong of us to fight every war since then.
I second Fenner's post," Thank God for people like Kathy Kelly and Dan Pearson." I have followed Kathy Kelly's work for many years and agree with Erroll that" Kathy Kelly was so much more deserving of winning the Nobel Peace Prize than militant Barack Obama." I live near a control center for drones. I am appalled at the carnage drones cause the innocent people of distant lands. I am also concerned about an accident which may occur and the harm the debris could do to the people it hits below. I also worry that the Pakistanis who were able to build a nuclear bomb will be able to build drones. If the leadership of a nation that can build drones becomes Anti-American and uses them against America will the U.S. scream foul and propose an International law banning the production of drones. Then the U.S. can proclaim, that an oil rich nation is building drones, bomb them into the stone age, occupy their land and take control of their oil contracts. "The Rotten Fruits of War" will come back to poison us, our children or grandchildren.
Simply amazing how long it takes for people who have been brainwashed by right wing media which control the message 90% of Americans receive via government news releases.
How long will it take thinking people to see that the Dumocrats aren't different from Repugnicans? Look at how the faithful believed in Obama's pronouncements about "CHANGE." The only change I can see for American people is a few nickels in their pockets & not much more.
Yes, dump Democrats, and vote GREEN. If you don't have a Green Party in your state, get off your asses and do as Californians did, they canvassed & got the Green Party on the ballot.
Very simple. Just don't wait for the knight or knightess in shining armor to come to your rescue.
If you want democracy, you have to work for it. The billionaires and their minions, like Obama, aren't going to do it for you.
Work for the Greens, form an alliance with progressive Dems and vote out conservative Dems.
A de-politicized Department of Peace could fund studies and find solutions to the unchallenged War Machine.
" It is a profound mistake to believe military force is a foundation for peace". That pretty much sums it up! You can bomb the world to pieces, but you cannot bomb it to peace!
Excellent article by these writers which goes a long way in demonstrating why Kelly Kelly was so much more deserving of winning the Nobel Peace Prize than the militant Barack Obama. Also, Teddy's point is well taken and which is never addressed by the mainstream media and that is WHY terrorist groups like Al-Qaida are being aligned against the United States. Until the leaders of the United States decide to face the fact that it is the inflammatory presence of American soldiers in the Middle East along with the close relationship that it shares with Israel at the expense of the Palestinians and the Lebanese that is the cause of so much of the violence in that area, then those terrorist groups will have no trouble at all attracting recruits to their cause.
"at the expense of the Palestinians and the Lebanese"
and the Syrians
And the Iraqis
And the Iranis
And the Afghans
And the Pakistanis
The authors pointedly place the phrase "bad guys" in quotations.
Thanks.
This infantile phrase, heard over and over again, epitomizes the very low level of general discussion and understanding of the issues raised in this article.
Children's words, from children's entertainments, spoken repeatedly by people in positions of ultimate power and influence.
"Bad guys"
disgusting and disgraceful.
Anyone believing the the doctrine of original sin would have to say that all humans are the "bad guys." The real problem is in designating one's self as a member of the "good guys." Preposterous. So long as our history is of exploitation and extermination of our fellow beings, none can be thought of as the "good guys."
Progressives go in ninety directions because there are so many worthy causes.
I suggest that Progressives focus on one tiny little law, a flaw of a law that prevents any resources from going to those worthy causes.
This is a target that has been ignored for over 8 years, by the MIC (I understand why they ignore it) and by Progressives (I don't).
In the spirit of UNITY, I suggest that Progressives bring the DAFT law (aka Public Law 107-40, aka 2001 AUMF) into the light of day and show people how insane it is.
There is a bug in America's code. Fix the system.
Repeal the DAFT law just as we repealed Prohibition when it failed.
I'm outraged that Obama is foolishly going to war with Pakistan but what if Osama is there? What about those terrorist networks, Al Quaida and the Taliban, oppressing the poor? 90% of the American people don't hate Muslims in general. They just oppose the troublemakers giving Muslims a bad rap. I know someone one will tell me "Hey Shawn, you hate Muslims" without having read what I said carefully. This is another example of wars within the progressive community. In Pakistan, there are peaceful people who want a secular nation so that they can peacefully be what religion they choose to be or an atheist if they so choose. Supporting Al Quaeda or the Taliban in Muslim dominated regions is no different from supporting the X-Tian Right in the west. Until all of us act consistent and hold no religious bias for or against any religion, what was described in this article will continue.
On a broader note, war is everywhere. Even on this forum, there is a war against classes. A celebrity gets to be treated as a "goddess" whereas down to earth people who aren't rich but just so happen to be different are executed at. How do we stop wars from abroad when they exist here at home? Call me a troll if you wish but why do some of the biggest preachers of peace choose to play into the conservative hands of mixing religion with politics and going violent against those of us who question their analysis? The reason progressives never win is so much division and hatred from within. Those of us who choose to repair the system from within are unfairly labeled as status quo hacks. Those of us who tell the truth that we have to be realistic and face the fact that third parties will never win are labeled as paid trolls.
"Until all of us act consistent and hold no religious bias for or against any religion, what was described in this article will continue."
A pleasant thought but impossible to achieve as all true believers have been indoctrinated to believe that their own religion is the only true religion and all others are infidels. Religions and the love of money are the twin roots of all evil.
" ... people who aren't rich but just so happen to be different are executed at."
??????
"Those of us who choose to repair the system from within are unfairly labeled as status quo hacks."
Untrue. Misguided altruists, possibly, but not hacks.
"Those of us who tell the truth that we have to be realistic and face the fact that third parties will never win are labeled as paid trolls."
Not trolls, just having defeatist attitudes. It is going to take a lot more pain before people will finally get up off their asses and ORGANIZE a viable third party. It takes a lot of hard work, and making it harder yet is the fact that it takes two or three or four incomes (married couple each with fulltime and and a part time job in many cases) just to survive these days and people are just dead tired at the end of long work days.
The "war" is not between conservative and liberal, although that idea is pushed hard by the mainstream media at the behest of the real powers. The real war is between the haves and the have nots, and the have nots are losing ground every day. See above comment regarding more pain. Wealth is becoming more and more concentrated among the top one percent and they will not let go easily.
- Kent Shaw - aka EKATON
even if Osama bin Laden is there - it is no longer REALLY about"osama bin laden".
it never was. bin laden's "power" comes from the fact that he put in words with their consequences in action what much of the muslim world LONG suspected:
that the USA and israel are "twins" in "making war on islam" and taking advantage of their own repressive governments to control the resources of arab and islamic lands.
it is the IDEA that the USA has provoked through its own Imperial Actions.
it's counterpart in other regions, for example, though not as "dramatic" and "terrifying" as "BIN LADEN TERRORISM"
is, as example:
the rise of the LEFT in south america..
the gradual deeper integration of asian countries AROUND china
they each have their regional and cultural and geographic VERSIONS of REACTIONS to an ACTION.
it's pure Einsteinian physics...
for every action , there is an equal and opposite reaction.
the USA provoked the world with its IMPERIAL ACTIONS.
it is getting from different quarters:
OPPOSITE and EQUAL reaction.
that is why it continues to FAIL , regardless of the chaos and disruptions and terrible consequences .
to the rest of the world - through long experience - the American "IDEA" has become IMPERIALISM and EXPLOITATION.
they are merely finding their differnt ways to COUNTER it. they have long seen the USA as the INTRUDER and wanna-be dominator and they are merely saying, in their different ways:
"this is not YOUR land. we are not YOUR servants".
Religious discrimination is everywhere and you're right to boldly state that all religious discrimination must end. Even within the progressive movement, there can be a tendancy to slip out of control and defend the bad faction of Muslims just like conservatives can slip out of control and defend the worst faction of Christians.
I'm sorry to see you getting trashed at by everyone on this site just because you're different but you need to understand the outrage on deeper levels. I don't agree with everything you say but I respect your views. I try to tell my conservative family that liberals are tolerant but just this morning, they showed me the war within the progressives on this site and I had to shake my head in disappointment. It's hard to believe it but even from the left, there can be just as much intolerance and hatred as there is from the right. I think that this forum is one of those few remaining ones that is solid left and a getaway from the other quasi-liberal sites such as Huffpost, Alternet, MoJo, and similar. Most of these people here feel inherently threatened when they find themselves confronting differences of opinion from within progressives. To them, you are a perceived threat. Not all of us think that way and I most certainly think that it is wrong to show hatred and intolerance just because you believe in working within an existing party. I do not agree that the Democratic Party is worth repairing anymore but I respect your difference. If you think you can still help repair it, I wish you lots of luck.
I used to think it could be but this party has made it abundantly clear that it intends to copy the Republicans against the public. I have a long list of letdowns that Obama has thrust against us and the lists have been posted by others on this forum. At what point will you draw the line and acknowledge that it is broken beyond repair and that a replacement is necessary? I work with repairing computers and networks and find myself answering that same question everytime. I noticed that on a few posts, you mentioned BeForKids. She has been very patient with Obama until he really blew it. I don't blame her for leaving the Democratic Party and I am already considering doing the same. The Green Party for one is very promising and would make an excellent replacement for the Democratic Party that has fallen out of bounds. Think about it for a while before posting for goodness sake.
Thank God for people like Kathy Kelly and Dan Pearson...