The Crisis In Afghanistan - Another American-Made Fiasco

Richard S. Dunn - August 21, 2021

There should be a law against voluntary ignorance and self-imposed insanity. The reporting on the American-made crisis in Afghanistan by the corporate media and, the comments from historically bankrupt politicians, borders on hysteria. They all in concert puts history on its head when addressing the Afghanistan issue. The Biden Administration inherited  a failed and misguided Policy by entering into Afghanistan in the first place. This is based on the inability of the United States to understand the social, cultural, and religious dynamics in Afghanistan, all operating simultaneously. The adventurist and opportunistic invasion of Afghanistan, had put the United States in a quagmire, which took them almost 20 years to realize that it was doomed from the start.

In the first instance, the then Soviet Union did not invade Afghanistan. The Soviet presence, was based on fulfilling an Agreement called the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness, was signed by Nur Muhammad Taraki of the Afghan Revolutionary Council, and Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union. China, Pakistan and the United States were supporting counter-revolutionary forces in Afghanistan in their bid to overthrow the Afghan Revolutionary Council, which came to power in 1978. During their time in office, the Revolutionary Council carried out land reform programs; women were involved in politics and education, and they embarked on an extensive Literacy Program. Destabilization and in-fighting eventually ‘derailed’ the socio-economic path of development the Afghan Revolutionary Council was trying to implement. Faced with this civic upheaval, the Council requested material and military assistance from the Soviet Union; a request they were within their rights to ask for, based on the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness.

The Soviet’s response was initially reluctant as expressed by Alexi Kosygin, the USSR’s Chairman of the Council of Ministers: “ we believe it would be a fatal mistake to commit ground troops. If our troops went in, the situation in your Country would not improve on the contrary; it would get worse. Our troops would have to struggle not only with an external aggressor, but with a significant part of your own people and the people would never forgive such things.” After the defeat of the Revolutionary Council and fueled by its anti-Soviet obsession, the United States and the counter-revolutionaries assumed leadership of Afghanistan. With the complexity and strategic considerations, the Soviets withdrew; the US puppets, ultra-nationalists and corruptors, took control of Afghanistan. The country afterwards was never the same. After 9/11 with the cover of the big lie of chasing Al Qaeda, the United States had combat troops in Afghanistan.

For almost twenty years, the United States military and the ultra-nationalists, carried out numerous atrocities against civilians; bombings, drone strikes, and extra judicial killings are all documented. What the US failed to realize, was that Al Qaeda may have been displaced and militarily weakened, but there were other nationalist groups existing in the country. There were contradictions within these groups, but they’re united in one thing: you’re seen as an outsider, an invader, and worst an “infidel” in the eyes of the ultra-nationalists. What was lost on the US military is that despite the contradictions within the various groups, they were willing to have an operational unity against the outsider, the invader. The operational unity, temporary as it is, will not destroy the deeply religious and ideological loyalty they have to that ideology. The United States government involvement in Afghanistan expresses their inability to understand the social, cultural and religious dynamics all operating within the Country.

Now, after almost twenty years, with thousands of civilians killed including women and children;  destruction of property and infrastructure, and $1 trillion later, the US has withdrawn again in defeat. The United States have never destabilized or invaded a white country; it has always been a country with people of color. The US-made crisis in Afghanistan helps to fan the flames, and heighten anti-Islamic hysteria and phobia. The freezing of the estimated $1 billion of Afghan assets by the United States, and Britain is also considering sanctions; will worsen an already disastrous situation.

The first and worst to suffer are the poor people of Afghanistan; they’ll experience food, medicine and other shortages of basic necessities. All  this social deterioration is happening during a global pandemic, considering that 43% of the Afghan economy comes from international aid, according to the World Bank. The United States and other imperialist countries will use this situation to further destabilize the country, thereby getting a regime they can more rely on; a regime that is a proxy of the imperialist powers.

Afghans and Afghans alone must decide how they want their country to run and by whom; not by threats or coercion whether by sanctions or freezing of assets. The imperialist reactionary view is that only the West knows how to, and can govern; an objective and unbiased examination of the West’s history destroys this myth. The Taliban’s ascendancy to power will present a challenge to establish legitimacy within the international community; however, this challenge must not be defined by the narrative of the West or the imperialist powers.

Send emails to Richard Dunn at: contact@makingitplain.net