Afghanistan: The Other War of Aggression That Needs to End

First published on Common Dreams

As violence in Iraq continues, and Israel escalates its brutal assault on Gaza, the human tragedy of boundless war and militarism could not be more clear. Yet, despiteoverwhelming U.S. public opinion that the so-called War on Terror (which amounts to a war on a military tactic and/or a political strategy)  is a failure, the U.S. continues to wage and back open-ended military aggression, including in the forgotten war: Afghanistan.

While the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan has largely disappeared from the U.S. public discourse, its human toll continues: in Afghan lives lost and traumatized, the service members who never come home or come home wounded, and the ever expanding web of political power and post 9/11 laws upholding endless wars and the erosion of civil liberties.

As varying conflicts--fueled by the U.S.--compete for public attention, now is not the time to forget Afghanistan, but rather, a critical exact moment to take toll of the harm done and envision a new path forward, rooted in healing and reparations.

Refocus on Afghanistan

While often ignored in political and media discourse, the U.S. continues to occupy the country of Afghanistan with more than 30,000 military service members, accompanied by roughly 17,000 troops from various allied countries , and an army of about 108,000 private contractors , which includes paid mercenaries who take part in firefights and combat.    

President Obama announced in late May that troops will start to gradually withdraw from Afghanistan starting at the end of 2014, reducing to nearly 10,000 troops at the beginning of 2015, and reaching an embassy-sized military staff by 2016. He did not mention, however,  what will become of the private contractors, or the dozens of people still held in Bagram prison, which is notorious for torture and abuse.

To secure a U.S. foothold in Afghanistan for the long-term, the U.S. is pushing to ratify the Bilateral Security Agreement, promising full immunity from prosecution under Afghan law to all US forces.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai has so far refused to sign on. However, the two presidential candidates in a still-undecided election--that has become mired in accusations of corruption and fraud--have both vowed to green-light the deal.

Meanwhile, violence continues to spiral, with no end in sight. According to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the first six months of 2014 saw a nearly 25 percent increase in deadly violence in Afghanistan, leaving at least 1,564 civilians dead and 3,289 civilians injured. Furthermore, after nearly 13 years of war, this past June the Taliban in Pakistan launched an attack on the busy Karachi Airport , as a testimony of their strength,  and an estimated tens of thousands of Taliban fighters remain in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan. It is unclear what the U.S. is doing in Afghanistan other than sewing more death and destruction.

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