The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Solidarity Network is proud to release the second issue of its monthly Afghanistan News Update. This newsletter aims to bring a collection of news reports and analyses to help the public better understand the complex and dynamic situation in Afghanistan through an anti-imperialist lens. Below are milestones that occurred between June and July.
U.S. imperial intervention continues to mar the Afghan people’s right to self-determination, despite the U.S. and NATO withdrawal being “95% complete.” U.S. imperial involvement in Afghanistan goes further back than its criminal 2001 invasion. “Operation Cyclone'' was a 10-year long C.I.A. program begun in 1979 to overthrow the socialist government of Afghanistan by arming and influencing the mujahideen, a far-right extremist group that would later splinter off into Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other Islamist factions. Since then, the Afghan people have been in the midst of a U.S.-created civil war that has wreaked havoc across the country, killed or injured hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians, and displaced countless more.
“No lessons have been learned from this history,” explain Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, “The U.S. will ‘withdraw,’ but will also leave behind its assets to checkmate China and Russia. These geopolitical considerations eclipse any concern for the Afghan people.”
The U.S. government claims it will continue to involve itself in the affairs of the Afghan people for humanitarian and national security purposes, but recent events that have unfolded over the past two months contradict this rhetoric.
The United States Denies Responsibility for the Current State of Afghanistan
The security situation in Afghanistan continues to worsen everyday. The Taliban has waged a full-scale offensive takeover, now controlling nearly 80 percent of the country, with many expecting Kabul and the U.S.-backed government to be overthrown by the end of this year. Ever since the Biden administration violated the 2020 Doha Peace Agreement and extended its imperial occupation of Afghanistan, leaving troops and private mercenaries in the country while remaining committed to the use of devastating airstrikes, turmoil has ensued.
The Biden administration has made it clear the United States will not stop devastating airstrikes in Afghanistan, including the use of unmanned drones.
(Biden Betrays Another Campaign Pledge—Admits that U.S. Will Continue to Bomb Afghanistan, CovertAction Magazine, July 6, 2021)
In July alone, nearly 350 Afghan people have been killed while Biden recently bragged not a single U.S. life had been lost.
(Afghan War Casualty Report: July 2021, New York Times, July 15, 2021)
The U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield, a major U.S. military stronghold, notorious for human rights violations of the Afghan people. The evacuation took place in the middle of the night, blindsiding its “allies” and leaving equipment, weapons, ammunition and trash behind.
(U.S. Pulls Out of Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield in the Middle of the Night—Without Telling the New Commander, Time Magazine, July 6, 2021)
The Taliban says it has the “right to react” if U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan past the September 11 deadline, representing the potential for another clear U.S. violation of the Doha Peace Agreement, which would only cause further devastation and insecurity for the Afghan people.
(Taliban says has right to react if US troops stay in Afghanistan, Aljazeera, June 25, 2021)
The Geopolitical Impact of the U.S. “Withdrawal”
Afghanistan has never been a national security threat to the United States, despite the rhetoric. However, in the wake of the Biden administration’s violation of the 2020 Doha Peace Agreement, its irresponsible “withdrawal,” and continued imperial and militaristic meddling in the affairs of the Afghan people, the current instability and high likelihood of civil war in Afghanistan has become a major source of fear and insecurity not just for the Afghan people, but also for neighboring and nearby countries.
For geopolitical reasons, the United States and NATO are committed to remaining the dominant foreign presence in Afghanistan, despite opposition from many regional states.
(A hybrid war to replace Afghan ‘forever war’?, Indian Punchline, July 6, 2021)
In an attempt to mitigate the likelihood of a violent and devastating civil war in the wake of the U.S. “withdrawal”, regional powers including Russia, China, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan advanced an “Asian roadmap” for Afghanistan based on reconciliation, economic development, and Eurasian integration.
(Russia-China advance Asian roadmap for Afghanistan, Asia Times, July 15, 2021)
Geopolitics, Profit And Poppies: how the war in Afghanistan has looked a lot like the war on drugs in Latin America and previous colonial campaigns in Asia, with a rapid militarization of the area and the empowerment of local elites.
(How the CIA Turned Afghanistan into a Failed Narco-State, MintPress News via Popular Resistance, June 27, 2021)
Taliban advances in Afghanistan are threatening economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, including the Belt and Road Initiative.
(Chaos in Afghanistan Threatens CPEC, The Diplomat, July 19, 2021)
Please visit BAP's Afghanistan resources page for its latest statements and fact sheets. Keep in touch on social media by following BAP on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Banner photo: A handover ceremony as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan. (Afghan Ministry of Defense Press Office via AP)