Afghanistan was where Osama Bin Laden had his headquarters. The Bushies’ first “response” to 9/11 was to take over the country with raw military force, tossing out the Taleban regime that had been so hospitable to OBL.
So you might think that today, four years after 9/11 and nearly four years after the collapse of the Taleban regime, Afghanistan might be well on the road to a return to normalcy, with a pro-US government well ensconced there?
Yes, you might think that– if the whole project of “remaking” Afghanistan along more democratic lines had not been left to the Bush administration… Which, um, decided for the heck of it to launch another nasty little war along the way there.
As it happens, Afghanistan has a parliamentary election on September 18. And in the lead-up to it there have been a lot of (in-)security incidents of some seriousness.
As usual, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting has been doing a good job on the ground there. Kabul-based reported Wahidullah Amani filed this report yesterday:
- Candidates are being targeted, election workers killed, and pro-government mullahs attacked, along with hundreds of police and civilians.
Many analysts and Afghan observers attribute the increase in violence to the Taleban
Helena,
Perhaps you can share with me what other kind of
One thing is absolutely certain: Afghanistan will not be rebuilt. That’s because it was never “built” in the first place.
It’s interesting that the Australian security expert, Grierson, agrees with the Taliban commander, Mullah Aziz, that the violence is not directed primarily at the elections but at the democratic government in general.
One of the fascinating things about the internet is that people will offer as evidence quotes that don’t support their position. I see this on the left and the right, mostly on blogs. Now Helena, in this blog entry said, regarding the election, “And in the lead-up to it [the election] there have been a lot of (in-)security incidents of some seriousness.” Feel free to accuse me of nit-picking.
jonst – what’s a “dirty shirt defense lawyer?”
WarrenW – Your statement that Afghanistan was never “built” in the first place displays such apalling ignorance and crass cultural insensitivity that I am nearly – but not quite – speechless. Pretty soon people like you will be saying the same thing about New Orleans. I’ve never done this before, but I am now going to ask you to apologize for that statement. Are you man enough?
Forgetting and Afghanistan – it’s odd that you should put these words together the way you do.
What I mean is that looking back, it’s clear that before the USA sent its bombers, its invaders, its bribe money, and its stooge, Karzai, half way round the world to smash a country, people had forgotten a lot.
People had forgotten Imperialism. We knew very well that Imperialism is a phenomenon in itself and not a reaction to socialist revolution. Yet after the “fall” of the Soviet Union people like myself became complacent. We had tacitly come to the conclusion that we had a breathing space.
The US invasion of Afghanistan was the event that woke people up. In other words it is because of Afghanistan that we remembered what we were supposed to be doing. I don’t know for sure but I think it was the same all around the world.
We have learnt that we have to stick to our revolutionary job, summer and winter, year in and year out. G W Bush taught us that with this stupid and useless piece of smashing and killing. I regret it. I don’t know how I could forget it even if I wanted to.
Let’s never forget again. Let’s now make it impossible for the imperialists to do these things any more.
OK, I waited 3 days. I must now conclude that WarrenW is not man enough to either apologize or defend his position.
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