Justifications collapse for U.S. war in Afghanistan
2010Gerry Foley 2010-07Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
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Recent weeks have seen four major stories about Afghanistan: The firing of General McChrystal for publicly expressing contempt for the civilian authorities, the revelation that the private security firms hired to protect NATO convoys were paying off the Taliban, the London School of Economics report that the Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, is still supporting the Taliban, and the Pentagon-sponsored report that Afghanistan holds rich sources of minerals. According to U.S. officials, the country’s known deposits of minerals such as iron, lithium, copper, gold, and cobalt are worth some $1 trillion.
Taken as a whole, these reports demonstrate the irredeemable disaster of the U.S.-led war. The only story that might be taken as positive for the U.S. commitment was the one about mineral wealth in Afghanistan; and precisely because the other news was so negative, even it inspired doubts in the critical media.
For example, an account posted June 18 on Alternet noted: “The timing of the publication of a major New York Times story on the vast untapped mineral wealth that lies beneath Afghanistan’s soil is raising major questions about the intent of the Pentagon, which reLabor’s fightback — 5 A third Depression? — 6 Puerto Rican students — 7 Film: Restrepo — 8 leased the information.
“Given the increasingly negative news that has come out of Afghanistan—and of U.S. strategy there—some analysts believe the front-page article is designed to reverse growing public sentiment that the war is not worth the cost.”
If the Pentagon intended the report of potential mineral wealth to justify the war, it of course did nothing to vindicate its motives. If it hoped to redeem the war effort by showing that it offered profits for U.S. corporations, after the disillusionment with the U.S. war for oil in Iraq (the value of which was well known), the effect could only be to discredit U.S. claims about waging war for the sake of the Afghan people oppressed by the Taliban and for the security of America.
Throughout the war, there have been arguments that the U.S. sought material advantage in Af(continued on page 4, in “Opposition rises against U.S. wars and occupations”)
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