US plans on sitting tight in Afghanistan for a long time: the plunder has only just begun

Afghan refugee in Pakistan May 27 2014

You heard the skepticism here when Obama threatened to pull all US-NATO troops out of Afghanistan if Karzai didn’t sign the bilaterial agreement with the US by the end of last year. Bilateral means affecting both sides but doesn’t indicate parity or clarify if the affects will be adverse or beneficial to both. The provisions the US demanded meant continuing US domination in Afghanistan & preempted Afghan national sovereignty. It’s not clear why Karzai, the protégé of US colonialism, showed resistance rather than his usual compliance but his objections to the proposed agreement were absolutely valid–including demanding Afghan jurisdiction over US soliders committing war crimes in Afghanistan. The US wanted to be able to spirit offenders out of the country & try them in US military courts where they could give them the punitive equivalent of the naughty finger.

December 2013 came & went & no threatened troop withdrawal materialized when Karzai wouldn’t comply. Now the US claims the Afghan presidential elections winding up June 14th promise to deliver a new president they can work with. That’s probably because they’ve larded all the candidates with bribery money or threats. They’re lauding these elections as the first time in Afghan history that there’s been a democratic transition of power. How the hell do you have a democratic transition of power with thousands of foreign marines occuping your country & US-NATO drones bombing everything in sight? And, it might be added, with the CIA & other nefarious forces trucking in millions of under the table bonuses?

Why does the US insist on this agreement when they flaunt every international law already on the books? Only to render some kind of legal framework, even a flimsy one, to their continued occupation of Afghanistan.The millions of Afghanis living in exile will have to wait a few more years since today Obama announced to no one’s surprise that US-NATO forces would be staying on until 2016 rather than leaving in December 2014 as previously promised. It’s become tiresome to hear people blaming Bush for all Obama’s war crimes. Obama’s been in office six years & at least six more wars & troop deployments. It’s time he was held fully accountable for his crimes against the people of Afghanistan.

US out of Afghanistan! US out of Iraq! We demand the immediate withdrawal of all US-NATO forces & materiel. Bring the troops home now!

(Photo of Afghan refugee in Pakistan by Muhammed Muheisen)

Leave a Reply