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The
folks who prepared the U.S. Government's leaflets raining down
with the bombs on Afghanistan can be forgiven for having left
out a few key points. Here are excerpts from the leaflets, with
some facts afterward.
From
"The Partnership of Nations is Here to Help," Leaflet
#2:
"Since
the time of the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan has been a country
in conflict. War and strife have been a constant part of the daily
life of its citizens. Yet time and again, it has not been the
people of Afghanistan, but outsiders who have been the real cause
of this pain and destruction."
Fact:
The United States has been one of these sources of "pain
and destruction." The CIA provided $5 billion in military
aid, not to mention specialized training, to Islamic fundamentalists
fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The
US government provided an additional $3 billion in the mid 1990s,
which many see as directly contributing to the Taliban's eventual
rise to power.
From
"The Partnership of Nations is Here to Help," Leaflet
#3:
"On
Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of people were killed en masse in the
United States. Among them ... was a two year-old girl. Barely
able to stand or dress herself. Did she deserve to die? Why was
she killed, you ask? Was she a thief? What crime had she committed?"
Fact:
While none of the deaths on Sept. 11 were justified, neither are
the civilian deaths caused by the US bombing justified. The Red
Cross has called for a ban on cluster bombs – which scatter about
150 "bomblets," many of which do not explode immediately
upon impact. US B-52 bombers are dropping these bombs on women,
children and the elderly in Afghanistan, such as in Karam, a civilian
area with no military targets. These yellow cluster bombs are
reportedly similar in appearance to US food-drop packages, making
it difficult to distinguish between the two. Children often mistake
the colorful bomblets for toys, with disastrous consequences.
UNICEF estimates that up to 100,000 Afghan children could die
before spring as a direct result of the current war.
From
"Taliban Actions Are Non-Islamic," Leaflet #1:
"We do not want to take over your nation; we want to give
it back to its rightful owners, the people of Afghanistan."
Fact:
According to a Dec. 2000 US government energy fact sheet, "Afghanistan's
significance from an energy standpoint stems from its geographical
position as a potential transit route for oil and natural gas
exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This potential includes
proposed multi-billion dollar oil and gas export pipelines through
Afghanistan...."
Vice
President Dick Cheney is familiar with the region. As CEO of Halliburton,
a top global energy-services contractor, he, for years, conducted
business deals with US enemies and dictatorial governments –
such as in Iraq, Azerbaijan and Libya – and actively ignored
existing US sanctions. In the mid 1990s, Cheney helped broker
a huge deal in Kazakhstan for Chevron, whose board of directors
included none other than National Security Advisor Condoleezza
Rice. Speaking in 1998, Cheney said, "The good Lord didn't
see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically
elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we
have to operate in places where, all things considered, one would
not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is."
And
"the business" is in Afghanistan. Whoever takes control
of the region could be a major player in the oil industry in years
to come. Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik told
the BBC on Sept. 18 that US officials had informed him in
mid-July of a US Government plan to overthrow the Taliban by October.
When
the war eventually ends, the United States may have to drop another
leaflet. It should say, simply, "We're sorry."
Heather Wokusch is a freelance writer. This
article was originally written for the Progressive
Media Project.
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