12 April, 2007

The war in Afghanistan is likely to fail

When Western nations that make high claims to morality and justice make deals with war lords like the Northern Alliance they can never erase the memory of scenes like these.

Read what was said in 2001 and ask who was right about the ill-conceived war against the people of Afghanistan:

SAS regiment soldiers to be redeployed to Afghanistan: prepare for casualties says Howard (11 April 2007) http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1894333.htm?backyard

More Canadian soldiers die in Afghanistan (12 April 2007)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1895170.htm

More Australians sent to battle resurgent Taliban (25 September 2006)
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1747629.htm

In 2001 I set up the web site Afghanpeacezone in which I said: http://www.geocities.com/afghanpeacezone/

Peace is very difficult when so much is unresolved.

President Bush has signaled to the world that the USA has learnt nothing from their previous and continuing violations of human rights around the world. Globalised corporate greed begets despair and desperate people can become terrorists.

Did all those miscounted votes matter, after all - now that we have probably the worst possible choice of American President? Can we really expect peace while the CIA agents go free who gave Osama Bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, The Shah, The Taliban their first guns, their first pay-packet? If US retaliation leads to massive civilian casualties, regional destabilisation and many thousands of angry and committed suicide bombers then we should not be in the least surprised. If a return to CIA assassinations and engineered coups lead to more terror attacks around the world (perhaps in your suburb) we can only blame ourselves.

The USA refuses to give up their war criminals, people like Henry Kissinger (named by Christopher Hitchins) whilst labelling other nations as 'rogue states'.

Yes! We've got to stand up for peace and we will have to go on for the next awful fifty years (it will be every bit as paranoiac as the Cold War) We will need to go on stand up for peace because of what has happened last week. Some of us in the peace movement feel that our whole life's work has just been destroyed. It will be completely decimated by an ill-considered and indiscriminate response.

Willy Bach 2001

Greens Senator Bob Brown's Media Releases

04 October 2001 - SAS Squad Should Be Under UN Control

It is a strategic mistake for Australian troops to be deployed under a US led mission in Afghanistan, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today. “Australia’s commitment should be under the auspices of the United Nations,” Senator Brown said. “Terrorists could use the fact that the US is in charge to widen the conflict. “It is a strategic mistake for our forces to be led by the USA. They should be under Australia’s control or the United Nations’. “The use of the term ‘war’ is also a mistake. “This is a hunt for terrorists and the term ‘war’ is inflaming the crisis and creating more fear around the world.

07 October 2001 - Greens Condemn Howard and Ruddock Greens Senator Bob Brown has condemned the Prime Minister and Phillip Ruddock for their handling of the latest boatload of asylum seekers.

“Howard’s One Nation policy of ‘turning the boats back’ is causing the situation to spiral ever further out of control,” Senator Brown said today. “The latest incident, with people jumping or being thrown overboard, is a direct outcome of Mr Howard’s policies which have made refugees election fodder. “Mr Ruddock’s pronouncements today are media manipulation of the worst sort. Nobody throws their children overboard unless they are desperate. “Australia is being hugely damaged by a policy that has already cost $100M and the results of which would have been the same: cheats sent home with genuine refugees remaining in Australia. “This is not an exercise in war it is an exercise in politics. Howard’s approach has snarled one third of the Australia Navy when they should be available for others uses,” Senator Brown said.

08 October 2001 - Howard and Beazley Have Huge Responsibility: Brown

“Australia’s political leaders have a huge responsibility to ensure innocent Afghani civilians are not killed in the current attacks”, Greens Senator Bob Brown said in Hobart today. “Both Mr Howard and Mr Beazley are totally committed to Mr Bush’s war. Both have rejected the safer comment of the anti-terrorist campaign being lead by the United Nations. They are wrong.” “But their support for Mr Bush carries the responsibility of achieving maximum restraint to avoid killing innocent people. “The rambling bellicosity of terrorist Bin Laden is no excuse for destroying innocent Afghani communities or elevating the chance of a wider war between the West and Islamic countries which he advocated.” Senator Brown said.

10 October 2001 - Ruddock Unbelievable

The Minister for Immigration’s assertion that young children were thrown overboard from the refugee boat in “premeditated” parental abandonment last weekend is unbelievable, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today. “That the children were jettisoned, if it happened, points to great alarm or terror as a result of the Howard Government’s new policy being implemented,” Senator Brown said. “There should be independent observers or journalists on the naval ships: otherwise the government exposes the navy as well as the asylum seekers to potentially damaging publicity when Mr Howard is at fault. “Videotape of last weekend’s incident must be released. “Mr Ruddock is not Minister for propaganda and is not enlisted to select what the public see,” Senator Brown said.

17 October 2001 - Howard Wrong On Ground Troops

‘Conscription Next, Parliament Should Be Recalled’ - Brown. Prime Minister Howard is wrong in committing 1,550 Australian ground troops, under US command, to the US- led invasion of Afghanistan, Greens Senator Bob Brown said in Hobart today. “Australians should not be committed except under the auspices of the United Nations following a General Assembly resolution,” Senator Brown said. “The effort to bring terrorists to justice should be by the community of nations, to avoid the real prospect of a war between the US and Islamic populations. “Mr Howard has also put conscription on the agenda. He is not a man to change. He advocated conscription in the 1960s and 70s. He will bring it in during the coming term of government if the global crisis deteriorates,’ Senator Brown said. “We support a UN-led effort to bring the terrorists to justice in a world criminal court. The Bush proposal has no such contingency plan or end-point. Parliament should be recalled to discuss this commitment of young Australians,’ Senator Brown said.

25 October 2001 - Cluster Bombing is an Outrage

- Greens Cluster bombing, now being used by the United States in Afghanistan, is outrageous and totally unacceptable in an operation meant to target only terrorists, Greens Senator Bob Brown said in Launceston today. “Cluster bombing is indiscriminate and while it may not effect one terrorist it will maim and kill many innocent civilians,” Senator Brown said. “The Prime Minister John Howard should publicly demand an immediate halt to cluster bombing which itself is a form of terrorism against civilian populations. “The Prime Minister should offer the United Nations Australian expertise in deactivating the unexploded cluster bombs,” Senator Brown said.

25 October 2001 - Howard Must Restrain Bush’s Bombs

- Brown Mr Howard’s speech is redolent with his fear that Australians will judge him as mistaken on Afghanistan, Greens Senator Bob Brown said tonight.“The cluster bombs are threatening the cluster alliance. Australians can pick the difference between necessary an anti-terrorist operation and the cluster bombs maiming innocent civilians,” Senator Brown said. “Mr Howard would do better to tell President Bush to avoid the imminent humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan than lecture Australians in inappropriate history. “Most Australians expected Osama bin Laden would be out of action by now, instead we a seeing maimed children on the TV screens. Mr Howard should tell President Bush to narrow his focus on the first and protect the second. Senator Brown who has called for a one-month moratorium on the war in Afghanistan said Mr Beazley should follow suit. “This is a watershed moment in Afghanistan and potentially the election,” Senator Brown said.

Further information: Ben Oquist 02 62773170 or 0419 704095Category: Senate Office Author: Ben Oquist Bob Brown's Media Releases

Further comments from a friend:

There is almost no analysis of the reasons why Afghanistan was invaded in the first place. Australian new outlets seem oblivious of the fact that the decision to invade Afghanistan was made before 11 September 2001 when the Taliban government, in a meeting in Brussels, refused the terms of the American's demands regarding the laying of the pipeline through Afghanistan to the Pakistan coast. they were offered the choice of a "carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs". that was in July 2001. The decision was made to start the attack before the snow fell (October).

After September 11 the Americans alleged that the attack was the work of "al Quaeda" which is Arabic for "database" a term devised by the Americans to identify those who were part of the American financed mujihadeen attacks against the Russians in the 1980s. Bin Laden was one of the leaders of the mujihadeen and visited the US under the pseudonym of "Tim Osman".

When the Americans accused bin Laden of being behind the attacks, the Taliban government offered to hand him over if the Americans could offer proof that bin Laden had in fact been involved in 9/11. The Americans did not, and in my view could not, offer such proof. They simply ignored the Taliban offer because they needed to secure the pipeline routes.

The real objective of the Afghanistan invasion is to justify the establishment of American bases in the "stans" to the north of Afghanistan because they are one of the few remaining major sources of oil and gas. Look at the map of American bases. It closely follows the pipeline route.

The other major objective of the invasion was to allow the reconstituting of the poppy fields that hads largely been destroyed under the Taliban. Afghan opium is the main supplier to Europe, and again the supply route closely matches the establishment of American bases, including (and this is not a coincidence) in Kosovo, now the largest US base outside the USA.

Apart from enriching the Bush crime family and their friends, drugs are the main source of funding for intelligence black ops.

See Don Paul and Jim Hoffman: "Waking up from our Nightmare", and the several books by Nafeez Ahmed.

Needless to say, none of this is even hinted at by our politicians or our media.

There is no more justification for the invasion of Afghanistan than there was for Iraq.

end