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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
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Lindsey German: 07472 198 941
Chris Nineham: 07930 536 519

The War and Occupation in Afghanistan Has Been a Complete and Utter Failure

Stop the War welcomes the announcement that Britain is to finally retreat from Afghanistan as part of the broader US plan to withdraw its troops by Sept 11th.

The arguments we put forward twenty years ago--that this was a war of revenge with no exit strategy which would lead to death, destruction and a humiliating defeat--have been proved accurate.

WASHINGTON

Stop the War welcomes the announcement that Britain is to finally retreat from Afghanistan as part of the broader US plan to withdraw its troops by Sept 11th.

The arguments we put forward twenty years ago--that this was a war of revenge with no exit strategy which would lead to death, destruction and a humiliating defeat--have been proved accurate.

But lessons have not been learned--the end of the war in Afghanistan unfortunately does not indicate an end to military intervention as the Western powers are merely redirecting their artillery towards other sections of the globe, namely Russia and China. Recent hikes in military budgets on both sides of the Atlantic suggest further aggression is on the cards.

Stop the War Convenor, Lindsey German, said:

"The war and occupation of Afghanistan has been a complete and utter failure. It has failed to bring peace to Afghanistan, failed to topple the Taliban, failed to reduce terrorism and failed in its duplicitous objective to liberate Afghan women.

The end of this war should serve as a reminder to all the politicians who supported it that they have a huge responsibility to bear for two decades of tragedy. It must never happen again."

Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the "war on terror". Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Stop the War opposes the British establishment's disastrous addiction to war and its squandering of public resources on militarism. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues.

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