Use the WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary to Mobilize Resistance to the U.S. War of Terror

 

The recent release of the Afghan War Diary by WikiLeaks is an important development. The Diary is composed of some 91,000 secret U.S. military reports confirming that the U.S. has been committing war crimes and other crimes against the people of Afghanistan since the invasion of that nation in 2001. We at World Can’t Wait are reading these reports and will get into more detail about them in future articles. But as progressives get involved in the debate and controversy stirred up as a result of the release of these reports I think it is important to take a certain political posture as well.

We must start with the orientation that the U.S. war of terror being fought by the U.S. Empire in Afghanistan is an unjust, illegal, and immoral war. This has been so since its inception by the Bush regime and continues to be so under the Obama administration. It was never a “good war.” It has always been an imperialist war for empire and the people of the world have no stake in seeing that the war is “won” by U.S. imperialism.

 

We can not let the terms of this debate be confined to arguments as to whether the war can be “won” or whether and when U.S. officials lied to the public. Of course U.S. imperialist leaders have lied about this war. These lies start with the reasons for the war in the first place and get into more detail when it comes to covering up the various crimes committed in prosecuting the war. These lies spewed from the mouth of George W. Bush and now come from the mouth of Barack Obama.

 

The following are facts:  The U.S. and its allies kill civilians in this war.  They also cover up the full extent of these murders. They capture and torture innocent people and insurgents in this war. Many taken prisoner in this U.S. war of terror have been murdered. The U.S. uses assassination as an illegal tool in this war both in Afghanistan, but also across the border in Pakistan as well. The U.S. violates Pakistani and international law when it launches attacks by drones used by the CIA or U.S. military. The U.S. has created a puppet government in Afghanistan. This government is composed of corrupt officials, drug lords, war lords and other feudal factions. The released reports apparently confirm a lot of this. But if you are a reader of this site you should not be surprised as we have posted many articles detailing all of this. I have written many of them and other progressive writers have also exposed these crimes. The released reports will help us further document what we already know to be true.

 

Is the war winnable? This is a question that starts with an imperialist orientation. Frankly I do not give a damn. I personally want the U.S. to be defeated in Afghanistan in achieving its imperialist goals. A “win” for the U.S. Empire is not a victory for the Afghan people or the people of the world. And no, that does not mean that I support the Taliban or al Queda and other reactionary forces.  We do have to choose between two outmoded reactionary forces.

 

In fact U.S. imperialism and reactionary fundamentalist forces often reinforce one another. Neither of them provides any real future for the people of the world. In the Afghan war we can see how this plays out in some respects. The U.S. imperialists and their allies are so bad that many Afghans have supported the Taliban against the occupiers and their puppet government. This is because they see no alternatives, such as a real revolutionary force in Afghanistan. (I believe that the Afghan people can make a successful revolution and liberate themselves from imperialism and feudalism, but that is not the purpose of this article).

 

But the bottom line is that progressives should in no way support a U.S. victory (whatever and however that is defined) in Afghanistan. Such a “win” will not bring liberation for women or any others in Afghanistan. Supporting the U.S. will only lead to more crimes and more oppression.  A “win” would only strengthen the U.S. Empire and allow it to invade or subjugate other nations in its war of terror. We can not accept the lie that at least the U.S. imperialists are better than the Taliban. This lie has already led to too many crimes and deaths.

 

We need to seize the opportunities presented by the release of these reports to continue to expose the war for what it is, not what the U.S. propaganda machine wants us to believe. We must expose that U.S. leaders are engaged in an ongoing criminal enterprise and are literally making war on the people of the world with the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq and some other nations being in the crosshairs at this time.  We must not be led into false debates that cause us to line up with U.S. imperialism. We also must not rely on the same U.S. leaders to “get us out of this war.” 

 

We can not fall into the trap of appealing to Congress to end the war. Congress under both Republican and Democrat leadership has appropriated hundreds of billions to fight the U.S. war of terror. Yes the Congress should cut off funding, but supporting the Democrats in the next election will not make this so. Remember how we were told that the 2006 and 2008 elections would change the world. But what happened? Instead Obama after being elected immediately escalated the Afghan war and expanded it more into Pakistan. Only a sucker would think that this next election will result in real change.

 

If you really want real change then you must join with World Can’t Wait and others to build a mass movement that will take to the streets and force change. Only millions engaged in concerted action will make a difference. Anything short of this will only allow the imperialist war machine to continue its crimes and 10 years from now we will see more military reports that will confirm this. If you want the U.S. war of terror to end join with us at World Can’t Wait. Become one of the millions needed now.