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Record Levels of Violence in Afghanistan Do Not Equal Progress
Greetings from Afghanistan. I arrived here now almost a week ago and there is so much to share about this experience that it’s hard to know where to start. I’d like to offer a few random observations about Kabul that I’m sure will make more sense upon reflection.
I was immediately struck by the contrast between the incredible beauty of the landscape here and what humans have managed to do to this little piece of the Earth. On the flight in to Kabul International Airport, you have stunning views from the plane of the Hindu Kush mountains that surround the city.
Once you land, however, you are quickly made aware that something is terribly wrong. Rather than the usual airport scene, buzzing with tourists and commercial flights, you see UN helicopters, military aircraft and surprisingly few people.
After entering the dilapidated airport, which is tiny for Kabul’s rapidly growing population, I had to wait only several minutes before seeing my first AK-47. Little did I know how common they are in this city. Seemingly every hotel that caters to foreigners, every government building, many banks and other important building have at least one Afghan in camo with a menacing weapon guarding the entrance. Razor wire is everywhere. In many ways, the city has the feel of a prison.
The poor air quality is also immediately apparent. There is so much dust in the air that there is almost a permanent haze over the city. When you are in a car navigating the chaotic roads, it at times looks like you are driving through a cloud or thick fog, but it’s just the dust. This is dangerous for me given that I have cystic fibrosis, but it is deadly for Afghans that have to breathe this air every day. In fact, earlier this month, Afghan authorities announced that 3,000 people die in Kabul every year because of the dust and smog. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a gross underestimate.
One thing I haven’t seen is the American military, which must be keeping a low profile in the city proper. Yesterday, on our way to a meeting with the Afghan Women’s Network, Brian Terrell, one of our delegation members, did say that he saw a US military convoy pass by, but I missed it.
While Kabul is apparently fairly safe at the moment – the new US National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan refers to the city as an “inkspot” where there is relative security – fighting is raging in many other parts of the country, particularly the south and east. On the day that I arrived in Afghanistan, for example, the AP reported that “a car bomb exploded outside a police headquarters in Kandahar, wounding at least six people and blowing out the windows of buildings up to a mile (a kilometer and a half) away,” and that 500 people in Paktia gathered, “shouting ‘Death to Americans!’ amid local reports that a NATO operation killed seven members of a private security company.” Reading headlines like these from my comfortable apartment in Brooklyn would upset me, but reading them in Kabul is a very different experience. It isn’t just news from some place half a world away, but from right out my window.
Now that I’m following the news on the war more closely, I realize that violence like this or worse is a daily occurrence in Afghanistan, even though the mainstream media rarely highlights these tragic stories. I’m sure the lack of attention that these regular bombings and shootings receive is, in part, exactly because they are so common.
While President Obama plans to tell the country today that we are on the right track in Afghanistan, the truth is that there is more violence and death here than at any point since the US invasion. The surge in US troops in recent months has led to more soldiers, more Afghan civilians and more humanitarian workers being killed this year than any year to date. How this equates with progress is beyond me.
26 Comments so far
Show AllIm old enough to remember watching the news of the Vietnam war on TV. Actually I just missed having to fight in it by a few years. When I saw Obama's news conference yesterday about the "progress" in Afghanistan I had an INSTANT flashback to the "Nam news" of the early 70s, and the "progress" that was being made in that war too. Yup, the lies just keep on rolling in. I am so disgusted with the government of the US. I guess that saying is true. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Now that I have my FTA satellite setup again, I can compare US corprorate probpaganda news to news in other countries. When it comes to the wars the US propaganda is stunning and blatant. Yesterday, CBS news interviewed soliders that had lost legs in Afghanistan. They dragged in 4 pro-war soldiers to say that they saw progress being made in the war and basically had no regrets in loosing their legs to that war.
What happened to balanced coverage like they do with global climate change? Were were the soldiers that were against the war? Those folks wern't on CBS they were on RT. (Russia TV). RT covered the protest at the white house and interviewed the protesters there. One protester said if we ended that war we could take the money saved and setup a national health care system for everyone in the country. A statement like that would never make it past the national news censors in the US.
"A statement like that would never make it past the national news censors in the US."
No sir, it wouldn't.
I'd suggest there is little "blatant" propaganda about the Afghan occupation simply because there is very little mention of it from day to day. You see something on the nightly news or in the newspaper occasionally, but thats it.
As to CBS....typical of your suggestion though. Blatant in that regard.Bet they didn't interview the four's together.
Have you ever noticed that NPR always magically finds workers in impoverished area like South L.A and Detroit that are UPBEAT and CHEERFUL about being laid off after 20 something years with no pension at age 50-something? No rage or class consciousness whatsoever.
I've noticed that after 15 years of listening to NPR and it pisses me off. It's a variant of what you are talking about.
you folks are hyper critical - everthing's got to be perfect for you
your paranoid rants are very telling - what's next - you'll be insisting that bears shit in the woods and ducks shit in the ponds
get a hold of yoursleves
sounds to me like you all need to get to the nearest airport for a quick crotch pat down and an xray zap
"We are on the right track" reminds me of "the light at the end of the tunnel".
When "Obomber" says "we're on the right track" he is:
1. Using the pronoun "we" to imply all Americans are joined together in this war of occupation. Wrong, polls consistently show a majority of Americans oppose this war of militant opportunism and economic corruption. His misuse of "we" is just more elite talk from our latest Elitist-in-Chief.
2. Emphasizing how well the packaging and marketing of the news media cycle in regards to the war in Afghanistan is proceeding in spite of the facts on the ground not bearing out the self-assured rhetoric spewing out of the corporate/military government bubble.
3. The die is cast and the long haul of disaster capitalism backed up with military might will continue its uninterrupted march with a turbo kick in speed thanks to the unending "keep moving the goal posts illusory deadlines" of the war on terror.
"People from poorer places and poorer countries have to call upon their compassion not to be angry with ordinary people in America." – Arundhati Roy
More than half (53.3%) of US tax dollars go to a criminal enterprise known as the US Department of Defense (sic), a.k.a. the worst polluter on the planet. We hear about tax cuts this and budget that and all kinds of other bullshit from the US government and the corporations that own it, but the reality remains: Roughly one million tax dollars per minute are spent to fund the largest military machine (read: global terrorist operation) the world has ever known.
Read The United States of War Criminals at:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27084.htm
The Imperial Stormtroopers will never succeed at defeating the courageous Pashtuns.
Unless the Imperial Forces are successful in instigating a civil war as they did in Iraq.
Sadly to say NPR reports today that the 10% underclass ethnic Shia Hazzarris won 25% of the seats in Parliament.
This was accomplished by closing Polling stations in 99% Pastun areas, so we have Sunni Pashtuns being represented by Shia Hazzarris.
We also have the Imperial Forces forming a National Afghan Army primarily staffed by Minority ( Northern border region) Tajik Officiers, another ingredient for Civil War.
The Pashtuns can defeat the Imperial forces but they need to be wary of the Civil War trap being laid by the invaders.
Glenn -
You are absolutely correct about the US invasion of Iraq instigating a civil war in Iraq, but there was a very fractious civil war already raging in Afghanistan long before Uncle Sam went in with uniformed soldiers to compliment the CIA's black ops boys in the fall of 2001.
The Taliban essentially grew out of the displaced Afghan civilian refugee camps in the Pakistan frontier border areas, Afghans who were fleeing a civil war and who were trained and supplied to return as mujadaheen by the Pakistani ISI and the CIA. The original "trap" was laid not for the locals, but for the Russians during the Carter administration in the late 1970's, according to Jimmy's national security advisor Zbigniev Brezinski. Uncle Sam cleverly baited the Red Army into invading Afghanistan, so that the Soviets would experience and get bled dry in their own Vietnam-style quagmire.
Awfully clever geopolitical strategy on the part of Carter, Reagan, and the Bushes, wasn't it?
Do you think this historical framework merited even a foot note in Obama's most recent review of US policy towards Afghanistan?
Bill from Saginaw
Bill you are correct about everthing except the propaganda generated belief that Afghanistan was in Civil War when the USA regenerated the Northern Alliance of Warlords ( basically large landowners with militias).
The Taliban, final Victors in the Civil War, had pacified 80% of Afghanistan to the extent that they eradicated approxiamately 90% of the opium crop at the Behest of the USA and UN. The Taliban controled Kabul, Kandahar,Herat,Jalabad,Massieri Sharif, Kunduz Bamiyan all major cities across the whole nation. If you know a city or area the Taliban did not control in 2001, I am interested in knowing.
Also the Taliban were in a secure enough position that both UniCal and an Argentine firm were offering the Talibans terms for pipeline investment.
The firmly in contol Taliban both militarily and socially, refused the UniCal contract prompting the Invasion by USA and Tajik and Uzbek Warlords.
The Iraq Civil War was greatly instigated by an UNknown origin swat like team of men in ninja outfits blowing up the Golden Mosque of Sammarra.
Civi War is a common strategy of Imperialism, part of traditional divide and conquer.
The USA in funding the Sunni Jundallah out of Baluchistan in Shia Iran just murdered a large number of Iranian Shias.
Yes Bill the USA attacked a stabilized nation and is in fact instigating Civil War a new CiviL War; for pre Soviet invasion the USA armed the Landlords and Fundamentalists rebelling against the government of great possibilties, Reformist Socialist.
So yes Bill this is the second time that the USA is fomenting Civil War in Afghanistan.
Progress my hind end. The only progress to be made is to get out. This "government is going tyop take over" when ewe leave...don't make me laugh. It's so corrupt it will collapse under its own weight when we go.
Leave Afghanistan to the Afghans and bring our kid's home. Wasting their lives and the others involved is a crime.
WTF are UN forces doing there!?! The are expending scarce resources on assisting a USA occupation of a victim that offered the USA no harm. This is the same UN that provides intelligence to Israel/USA on Lebanon. No wonder wonder the UN garners little respect. They are enemies too.
The UN is the United States just as NATO is the United States.
These Cold War relics would collapse without our support and as fact they probably should collapse. Its about time we moved into the modern world and left the old frames behind.
The Conservatives are certainly moving with the times while we twiddle around about Assange and other non-events. The new Broadside series by vconservative intellectuals is a combination of the Federalist Papers and Paul Revere's ride. This is something that needs a bit of attention I think.
Shadow Dancer,
For many, life is not good, but filled with horror, and the only experience suffering and humiliation. And when your body is blown up and pieces are flying in all directions, along with your loved ones, there is little time to forgive.
"Yeah, well more of them died than us, so...ha."
Is what they are basically telling us.
Again, it will take 50 to 100 corpses being dumped on the tarmac of military airfields in America EVERY WEEK for at least five to six months, combined with uncensored shots during the nightly news of old men and women having complete breakdowns over their pride and joy coming home in a box, fainting, collapsing, choking with grief....
Then it will end.
Every other solution is a lie.
You will never see those photos under this fascist system.
So the Red Cross calls a press conference which they rarely do, to announce that conditions for civilians and humanitarian workers are the worse since the war began. At the same time, the doublespeak from DC begins. Does anyone care? Apparently not. The young people who voted for "Yes We Can", are too busy with facebook to protest to end the war. Too bad there's no draft to wake-up these self-absorbed wimps.
dcrim-
Be careful what you wish for with that last bit. Giving conscription power (the draft) back to the 21st Century Pentagon war machine is a central feature of the neocon hawks' grandiose imperial wet dream.
The Repugs have been trying to finesse the Dems into sponsoring a return to military conscription ever since 9/11. There's method to their madness, not to mention reason to fear that Obama might be fool enough to take the bait, in the spirit of bipartisan compromise of course.
The idea that bringing back the draft would "wake up the wimps" or stoke antiwar sentiments because the sons and daughters of the wealthy would be forced to join the military is a dangerous fantasy.
You can't feed the beast to starve the beast. A draft would create an all you can eat buffet of cannon fodder. In today's political environment, it would be an unmitigated disaster wedge issue for progressives.
Bill from Saginaw
Impeach, try, convict and remove the lying Republican war criminal Obama.
The longer the occupation of Afghanistan goes on the more it reads like a repeat of the Soviet occupation of that country. With a few exceptions, some of them quite interesting.
The soviets lost nearly 15k dead and 49k wounded in their 8 years in Afghanistan. I don't think the usa is at that level of dead yet, what about the wounded?
The soviet occupation did drive many Afghans out of the country as refugees, are there any 'official' refugees counted from this occupation? Or are they not counted at all because it's the usa that's doing the occupying?
The soviets spent nearly 35 billion on their war in Afghanistan. The usa has spent at least that much, or more.
In the end the foreigners will leave. As one Afghan said, 'we never let foreigners stay when they come with guns.'
1 million per soldier per year. 100 Billion per year plus contractors.
Kabul sounds like Saigon in 68 except that there were GI's all over the place. The Air Force, spies, Air America and who knows who else on the base right outside the city limits. the US of A presence on one side of the runway and Saigon's airport on the other. 24/7 choppers overhead. Dont know why charlie came in on the civilian side of the airport during TET and had hostages which, everyone knew, was not going change anything. Shooting, bombs, gunships in Saigon the one difference to Kabul. War is shit. Tony
Record levels of violence doesn't equal progress. It equals profits
My God what a bunch of pessimists! Look at the bright side folks! With the repeal of DADT poor,disenfranchised gays can now openly rape, pillage, torture, and murder alongside poor, disenfranchised heterosexuals in the quest for a greater American Empire. God Bless The Corporations!