Article by Jorge Cadima, member of the International Department
In the quiet, with no regime media highlight, another country and its people are being the victims of the North-American imperialism war machine and their servants. The war caused by the USA within Afghanistan has spread unto its neighbour Pakistan, alias, just as Obama meant during his electoral campaign.
"The United Nations declare that almost a million people have fled [ from their homes, in the Swat valley] during the last two weeks. The total number of home displaced in Pakistan in the last 12 months, rose to 1, 4 million."(BBC, 15.05.09). The scarce news about this humanitarian disaster, repeats the usual superficial apologies, based on the Bushian "War to Terrorism" phraseology and propaganda. Talibans and fundamentalisms are mentioned. But what is not explained is why, after eight years of the USA / NATO war and occupation in Afghanistan, medieval fundamentalists would be, not only settling in the defensive, the most sophisticated and well-equipped armed forces in the planet, and besides spreading towards a neighbour country. As usual, the story is barely true.
The war in Afghanistan is an imperialist occupation and domination war, along with the usual crimes. Away from the headlines, on the month five of Obama in office, one of the greatest civilian slaughters ever committed by the North-American occupation troops:" an USA aerial incursion in Afghanistan might have killed up to 100 civilians, including many women and children" ( Al Jazeera, 7.05.09). The Red Cross International Committee investigated and confirmed: "tens of people were killed including women and children. We can surely confirm there were civilian casualties", including "an Afghan Red Crescent volunteer, killed together with 13 other members of his family" (AFP, 8.05.09). The popular reaction was violent: "shouting out "Death to America" and "Death to the Government", thousand of Afghan villagers threw stones at the police, yesterday, expressing their rage against the North-American aerial attacks, causing, as said by local responsibles, the death of 147 civilians. The riots begun, when people from three villages, hit by the USA’s bombardiers […] carried 15 newly-discovered corpses to the provincial governor’s house.[…]It is becoming clear, based on survivors’ descriptions, it was not a short attack, performed by a few planes […], but a continuous bombing, during which three villages were devastated […] explaining so many casualties, but only 14 wounded". (The Independent, 8.05.09). We are not before an isolated incident. Besides, "the Air Force, Navy and other coalition [countries] planes, launched a record number of bombs over Afghanistan, in April" (Navy Times, 4-05.09). And they also keep on bombing Pakistan. For this USA/NATO war, Jose Socrates wants to send more Portuguese troops. (Publico, 4.05.09). On the eve of the European elections, one cannot forget that the "Lisbon Treaty" institutionalizes the European Union – NATO liaison.
Inevitably, militarism revival is accompanied by Obama’s greater enfeoffment with war crimes. After sending more 17 thousand soldiers to Afghanistan, after declaring he will not punish the CIA agents, responsible for tortures, nor reveal more (and more terrible) horror photos practised by "the mother of all occidental democracies and market economies" (in order not to "affect the soldiers’ and the CIA agents"), now "Obama is going to reinitiate military judgements of some of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners" (BBC, 15.05.09). The very same ones he had ordered to stop, just after coming into office, declaring "the USA was entering a new human rights respect era". Therefore, it was a sound byte time respect.
It is more and more obvious that the " change in which we can believe in" promised during Obama’s campaign, will only arise through the leading role of the world’s peoples ( including the USA’s), and their struggle to end the most powerful, criminal and machiavelic imperialist domination system, the main source of war, crisis and misery.
