Debate has opened up over the war in Afghanistan. Big business politicians and military brass have defined their objective as “stability,” and they are failing their own tests. U.S. soldier and civilian casualties are at an all-time high, the Taliban is growing stronger, and al-Qaeda has not been destroyed. Corruption during the recent elections was astounding, and conditions for women have gone unchanged while drug trading continues.
General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, is proposing 40,000 more troops in addition to the already 100,000 U.S. and NATO forces currently stationed there. Obama has doubled the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and he recently announced a further escalation of 13,000 troops. A far-reaching debate has begun in the Obama administration on whether to move forward on this.
The war in Afghanistan is an eight-year nightmare with no end in sight. The U.N. reported the death toll for Afghan civilians has reached almost 1,500 this year alone. July 2009 was the bloodiest month, with more deaths for U.S. soldiers recorded than at any other time since the beginning in 2001. CNN reported that in the first weekend of October, eight U.S. soldiers were killed and 24 injured, and about 100 insurgents also died in a rebel attack that had the highest casualties of any battle this year.
Women in Afghanistan
The situation for women in Afghanistan has not improved since the 2001 invasion. The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan estimates that 87% of Afghan women are illiterate, only 30% of girls have access to education, one in every three women experiences physical, psychological, or sexual violence, and 70-80% of young Afghan women are forced into marriage. The occupation is not a humanitarian mission.
The September elections in Afghanistan were surrounded by fraud. With a very weak central government, the occupation has no real social base in Afghanistan. The Taliban is growing, and the U.S. Puppet candidate, Karzai, relied on the support of warlords and corruption. The U.S. and NATO big business commanders will now be forced into talks with the Taliban to reach an agreement. The longer the occupation goes on, the stronger the support will become for warlords and fundamentalists.
During the presidential race last year, Obama was supported by some progressive Democrats who believed he would move towards a more humane foreign policy by ending the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Considering his policy of a continued brutal occupation of Iraq and his escalation in Afghanistan, that Obama recently won the Nobel Peace Prize will sound like some kind of sick joke. Computerized “drones” are killing innocent civilians, and our hope hasn't led to the change that people wanted from Obama.
Public Opinion
There has been a shift in public opinion on the war. A Quinnipiac University survey, conducted in early October, found just 38% of Americans are willing to send more troops, and approval of Obama's handling of the war is just 42%, compared to 40% disapproval.
"The American people are deeply conflicted about the war in Afghanistan. Two-thirds of voters can tell you that the war is related to the 9/11 attacks and see the current effort there as worthwhile to prevent a re-occurrence," said Quinnipiac's Peter Brown. "But they don't want a prolonged military commitment and there is obvious nervousness about requests from the military to send more troops to Afghanistan."
Matthew Hoh, a Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the war. Hoh objected to that continuing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
80 Percent Poverty
In Afghanistan, out of a total population of 25 million people, over 20 million live below the poverty line. These figures have gotten worse since the invasion, and anger at the occupation is fueling the growth of the Taliban.. Capitalism has no solutions for the region, and the occupation of Afghanistan will not solve the massive problems facing Afghan people.
Withdrawal the First Step
The total withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan is an essential first step for the Afghan people to start to regain control of their lives. Only movements of the Afghan working people and poor, linked to other workers' struggles in the region, can transform Afghanistan. Socialist Alternative and the Committee for a Workers' International stand for workers' unity against war, occupation, right-wing Islam, and attacks on working people's living standards. Only a voluntary, democratic socialist federation in Central Asia could end the misery there.
Fighting has intensified, and eight years of death and destruction have cost U.S. taxpayers more than $170 billion. Meanwhile, here at home, we face mass unemployment and budget cuts to education and other services, while the ruling class is spending money on war and occupation. Young soldiers and Afghan civilians are dying, and there is no timeline for when this occupation will end.
To transform this situation, we need a powerful anti-war movement. With anger and questioning brewing against the war in Afghanistan, the anti-war protests on October 17 throughout the country were a good step forward. Anti war organizations need to link their demands and organizing efforts to the day-to-day economic injustices people are facing. The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations (natassembly.org) links up many of the best local coalitions with democratic functioning and a focus on building mass actions. The National Assembly should step up its activities, linking this to the economic costs at home. It should also begin to support anti-war, pro-worker candidates independent of the two parties.
