Bald-Faced Lies

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, a war that Germany willingly volunteered to join. The war was plastered with bald-faced lies. Where it first began as an expression of George W. Bush’s war on terror, it acquired new justifications with the passage of time. The invaders first said the goal was to bring democracy and prosperity to Afghanistan. The near total absence of guaranteed human rights suggested the focus should be put there. With that, conditions for women assumed a prominent role. A glance at the reports of various human rights organizations shows a further focus on violence against women, forced marriages for underage girls, anti-female discrimination in the education system as well as females being forced to veil their bodies completely in public. So the war was sold as a battle for the rights of women. After ten years of war, the result has been a total disaster. Rights for women have not improved, the literacy rate for girls is only as high as it was in 2001, unemployment among the young has skyrocketed, increasing numbers of people suffer from hunger and terrorism has not decreased anywhere in the world. All that flourishes in Afghanistan today is poppy cultivation and corruption.

Another bald-faced lie is the magic 2014 “trigger” date for troop withdrawal set by the allies. The major powers will stay. The United States will negotiate an agreement with President Karzai granting the U.S. a number of important military installations in the country. These bases will assure Washington stronger influence in energy-rich Central Asia, above all in the neighboring countries of Iran and Pakistan. Of these, three to five are of particular importance: Bagram, the current U.S. headquarters 75 kilometers northeast of Kabul, Kandahar in the strategically important south and Masar-i-Sharif in the north. The military’s wishlist also includes Shindand in the west (near the border with Iran) as well as Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan — a sort of springboard for operations in the direction of Pakistan. Other countries currently taking part in military operations there will try to recoup their expenses. There are all kinds of concessions for pipelines or mining rights to be snatched up. And finally, it’s all about control of natural resources like oil and natural gas in this rich and strategically important Central Asian region. Whoever wants to be a major player in 21st century global politics must adhere to a dictum postulated by Brzezinski that demands control of the “Eurasian chessboard” — and Afghanistan is a key square on that board

Citizens of the allied nations aren’t in favor of this war. Even in the United States, 62 percent of the population favor the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. A policy contrasting with endless war could look like this: An immediate ceasefire along with an unconditional and immediate withdrawal of foreign troops. Death and destruction would be brought to an abrupt halt and allied resources could be used for the reconstruction of this ravaged land. With that, some — but not all — of the major conditions necessary for peace and development would be in place. And the Afghans would finally have their sovereignty back.