Afghanistan Circles the Drain

Remember the day when George Bush had Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan over for dinner? Remember the parties and fetes thrown for the victory over the Taliban and Osama bin-Laden in that country? Well, it all seems to have been a desert mirage, another rhetorical dust-devil stirred up by the Bush/Pentagon propaganda machine.

As I posted several months ago, I received several emails from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). These reports suggested that contrary to the hype and fanfare, not only were the conditions for Afghan women deteriorating, the country itself was sinking into chaos. ...

Now comes this report from The Independent confirming those RAWA emails:

A suicide bomber yesterday rode into town, killing at least 20 in the deadliest insurgent attack since the US invasion. More than 1,600 were killed in 2005, and the murder rate is rising. The rule of law has collapsed. The government is trapped in its own fortified compound in the capital. Soon, Britain will commit another 3,500 troops to a dangerous mission with no clear goals or exit strategy...

While the US decided that it had bigger fish to catch, the people of Afghanistan waited expectantly for democracy and US aid to pour in to the country. Unfortunately, without the proper military and economic support, the country now seems headed to the state of affairs that existed before the Taliban came to power: rape gangs, social anarchy, fundamentalist violence, and indiscriminate violence towards women.

At the beginning of the so-called War on Terror, when the US attacked Afghanistan, it was attacking one of the poorest, least sustainable countries in the world. Through years of warfare and invasion the country's infrastructure had collapsed to a barbaric level. This in a country that during the 60s was as modernized and secular as any in the mideast.

Such are the tragic consequences of adventurism and imperial crusades. The US has always acted irresponsibily towards other countries that do not meet its color criteria or that it considers too small in the grand scheme of things. After the US-backed Taliban defeated the Soviets, the US allowed these fundamentalist fanatics to take over the country. Every amount of aid supplied to the country dried up and it slid into a backwater chaos of human despair.

If there is any question about why mideasterners are suspicious of the US intentions in the region, all they have to do is to look at Afghanistan to see what it means to do business with the US.

My Related postings on Afghanistan:

• Bush to Request $1.1B in Aid to Afghanistan
  
• Afghans Find Key Promises Unfulfilled
  
• Afghan Province's Problems Underline Challenge for U.S.
  
• Attacks Strain Efforts On Terror
  
• Afghani Women Tribute