Afghanistan

The turmoil in present day Afghanistan is the end result of more than 40 years of U.S. involvement and it should not be discussed without an analysis of that history.

[blackagendareport.com]

Yea, there's that word again.

{Liberals in this country, even those who had expressed opposition to the war, now show themselves as imperialists, and in the case of Afghanistan claim concern for the treatment of women in advocating for a never ending war. They should point out that the U.S. is responsible for bringing the Taliban as a political group into existence, and thereby ended the substantial gains that had been made for Afghan women under a secular government.}

I don't mind repeating this at all. Afghanistan fought for its independence from colonialism by the British, while not enriched, was vibrant in culture and trade with women playing a vast roll in society. Until the CIA and the US came to destroy yet another country that bothered no one. Abby Martin details the rest of the story below.

{U.S. involvement in Afghanistan began in the 1970s when Jimmy Carter was president. A left wing Afghan government came to power in 1978 and sought help and support from the Soviet Union. This simple statement of fact disappeared from the official narrative and most Americans know nothing about it. Instead there were tales of Soviet invasion and non-existent chemical weapons attacks. The Carter administration poured millions of dollars into the country and used Islamists as proxies to fight the Soviets.}

The chaos seen in the media should cause a wholesale rejection of imperialist interventions. The very premise of this war and every other war should be called into question but very few people in this country are truly anti-imperialist. They approve of U.S. violence committed around the world as long as the rationale is something they can accept. Arguments in favor of humanitarian intervention work all too well on the uninformed.

!!!!! The U.S. presence in Afghanistan should not be dismissed as merely a mistake and no one should be sorry that it is winding down. It was the ultimate act of cynicism, a war crime, and no one should try to defend it. Nor should anyone defend the presidents and members of congress who vote for defense spending that is now more than 60% of the discretionary budget. There are many guilty parties in this story.

Afghanistan would be better off if it had been left alone to resolve its own issues. The same is true for every other country the United States claims to be helping. When presidents, and corporate media op-eds, and congress, and think tanks make the case for war, the rest of us must reject their arguments out of hand. Let us not forget Afghanistan when we are told to support sanctions, drone strikes, or boots on the ground anywhere else. !!!!!