The war in Afghanistan

[Grigori]

How do you view it? Even if we agree to the view that it is nothing more than imperialism, do you honestly believe it was better off before NATO occupation? (Some are going to say that the Americans are merely putting another of their mad dogs back on its leash while others will say that Afghanistan had evolved into a nightmarish terrorist safe haven which will cause others to say that this was caused by the Americans while others will say that the Mujaheddin were needed to combat the brutal Soviet occupation at the time while others will say...)

[Smyg]

Freeing the Afghan people from Islamist rules is a good thing. Too bad they're not interested in doing that.

[The CPSU Chairman]

The Taliban are animals. I've never seen anyone argue otherwise. But the U.S basically replaced the Taliban with slightly-less brutal fundamentalists (former Mujahideen from the days of the Soviet war) and nationwide chaos. Life for the average Afghan isn't getting any better. And the Taliban is making a resurgence now as the leading force of the resistance to the occupation. Basically it's a no-win situation.

Besides, if it wasn't for the United States, there never would have been a Taliban. The Taliban was born from the chaos the U.S visited upon the country in the 80s/90s. More American involvement isn't going to resolve the issues that caused the Taliban in the first place; it's only going to aggravate them all the more and condemn Afghanistan and its people to all the more misery as the years go by. You can't clean up a mess caused by imperialism with even more imperialism.

[Arlekino]

Who fund Taleban? Is anybody got knowledge. To my opinion Taleban primitive forces and how NATO can't smash them, is that conspiracy somewhere.

[The CPSU Chairman]

Who fund Taleban? Is anybody got knowledge. To my opinion Taleban primitive forces and how NATO can't smash them, is that conspiracy somewhere.

It's generally thought that the Taliban gets significant support from corrupt elements in the Pakistani military and intelligence service. I wouldn't be surprised if it also gets support from rich Wahhabis in the Saudi royal family too, but I don't know about that.

Also, it's just really hard to smash a rebel movement in Afghanistan, even if it's not a very big force (which I think the Taliban still is). It's probably the best country on Earth to wage guerrilla warfare in.

[Jimmie Higgins]

How do you view it?Yes, an imperialist war led by the US in order to A) legitimize the use of overt military force to intervene and reshape countries after such actions had been discredited by the US involvement in Vietnam and then restrained by "peace-keeping" limited interventions after the cold war. B) To strategically place US and NATO forces in the crossroads of the world so that there are forces near Russia and strategic areas near both Eastern Europe and the Middle East.


Even if we agree to the view that it is nothing more than imperialism, do you honestly believe it was better off before NATO occupation?How would that be quantified? In general terms, for people there, I doubt there has been much of a difference - poppies are the cash crop and warlords run provinces. I'm sure the war-dead and wounded and those whose villages were destroyed would argue that things are not better - if they can still argue that is.

And politically, the ability for people to wage a legitimate fight for their own self-determination or populist demands is hindered from both sides. On the one hand the US war legitimized the Taliban for many who don't want the US there and see them as the only realistic opposition, or at least the lesser evil. And on the other hand, if people wanted to fight for reforms in land or politics or whatnot, not only do they have to face the new military set up by NATO, but they also have to face the US/NATO forces if they are even able to overcome the domestic forces!

And as far as democracy - well democracy (or socialism for that matter) can not be imposed from above. If anything, "democracy" in Afghanistan exposes the capitalist's real view of the sham they call democracy - it's not actually a system for expressing the popular will, to them it's merely a system for maintaining their rule.

The best thing, and only thing the US/NATO could do that would be positive, is for the forces to leave. It might cause chaos and factional fighting, but people in Afghanistan would potentially have an easier time overcoming one small or several small groups of tyrants, than having to overcome the little tyrants as well as the largest military power in the world.