As Afghanistan Heats Up, Protest on Oct. 18: OUT NOW!

by Barry Weisleder / September 2008

From the standpoint of Canada’s ruling elite, the war in Afghanistan is not going well. It’s not just that the death toll of soldiers of the occupation is rising sharply (as of Aug. 20, cumulative deaths of foreign military personnel were 574 U.S.; 116 Britain; 90 Canada; 26 Germany; 23 Spain; 22 France; 16 Netherlands; and 65 others). It’s not just that their puppet government in Kabul is manifestly corrupt and incompetent, or that Afghanistan leads the world by far in opium production and the illicit drug trade.

It’s the fact that the escalating slaughter of innocent civilians by the foreign military occupiers precludes any prospect of building a secure popular base for lasting imperialist rule over the land through which the Western powers wish to build a multi-billion-dollar pipeline for Caspian oil and gas.

The latest horrendous incident involved the bombing of the village of Nawabad, near Herat, by U.S. warplanes. The Pentagon called it "a good strike" because it allegedly destroyed Taliban leader Mullah Siddiq and 25 of his fighters. But the United Nations reported that 90 civilians died, including 60 children. Another 15 civilians were wounded.

Nor was this the first time that commanders of 70,000 American and allied troops have been criticized for preferring to bomb insurgents from the air rather than clash with them on the ground. In July, a U.S. air strike reportedly killed 47 at a wedding party, mostly women and children. No fewer than 698 civilians were killed in the first half of 2008, the UN reports, including 255 by allied forces.

And not by bombs alone. On July 27 a Canadian gunner killed two Afghan children when he fired at their family car as it came close to his convoy.

Whatever one thinks of the Taliban and other elements of the Afghan resistance, it is not difficult to see why the insurgency is growing. Hamid Karzai, who is running for ‘re-election’, admits his first term as president has been a failure. In a desperate bid to appeal to Afghans, Karzai demands of his foreign masters an end to air strikes on civilian targets, unilateral house searches, and the indefinite detention of civilians. But his appeals fall on deaf ears as the quagmire deepens. U.S. ruling-class politicians Bush, Obama, and McCain all promise to send more troops there.

Meanwhile, Ottawa sets a lower and lower bar for its aims in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Harper no longer talks about curbing the insurgency. He merely expresses hope that the Afghan army will demonstrate "increased capacity" in Kandahar and that authorities "will be better able to provide basic services in key districts." Defeat is written all over his thin, fraying rationale.

The intervention in Afghanistan is a key issue in the coming federal election. Harper’s Tories and Dion’s Liberals deserve equally to be pilloried for the imperialist adventure and its associated atrocities—the Liberals for starting it, and both parties for escalating and extending it to 2011, and beyond.

Opponents of the war, who speak for the popular majority, will be marching across Canada on Oct. 18 with a clear “Out Now!”