Denial and Evasion on Afghanistan
PakistanPal
By NORMAN SOLOMON
Is your representative speaking out against escalation of the
Afghanistan war?
Last week, some members of Congress sent President Obama a letter that
urged him to "reconsider" his order deploying 17,000 additional U.S.
troops to Afghanistan.
Everyone in the House of Representatives had ample opportunity to sign
onto the letter. Beginning in late February, it circulated on Capitol
Hill for more than two weeks. The letter was the most organized
congressional move so far to challenge escalation of the war in
Afghanistan.
But the list of signers was awfully short.
* California: Bob Filner, Michael Honda
* Hawaii: Neil Abercrombie
* Kentucky: Ed Whitfield
* Maryland: Roscoe Bartlett
* Massachusetts: Jim McGovern
* Michigan: John Conyers
* North Carolina: Howard Coble, Walter Jones
* Ohio: Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich
* Tennessee: John Duncan
* Texas: Ron Paul
* Wisconsin: Steve Kagen
We desperately need a substantive national debate on U.S. military
intervention in Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the Obama
administration says that the problems of the region cannot be solved
by military means, the basic approach is reliance on heightened
military means.
One of several journalists in Afghanistan on a tour "organized by the
staff of commanding Gen. David D. McKiernan," the Washington Post's
Jackson Diehl, wrote a March 23 op-ed in support of an invigorated
"counterinsurgency strategy." With journalistic resolve, he explained:
"Everyone expects a surge of violence and American casualties this
year; no one expects a decisive improvement in the situation for at
least several years beyond that."
The commanding general, Diehl added, does not anticipate that the
Afghan army "can defend the country on its own" until 2016. In effect,
the message is to stay the course for another seven years: "The
thousands of American soldiers and civilians pouring into the country
deserve that strategic patience; without it, the sacrifices we will
soon hear of will be wasted."
And so, with chillingly familiar echoes, goes the perverse logic of
escalating the war in Afghanistan. "Strategic patience" -- more and
more war -- will be necessary so that those who must die will not have
died in vain.
In contrast, the letter from the 14 members of the House (eight
Democrats, six Republicans) lays down a clear line of opposition to
the rationales for stepping up the warfare.
"If the intent is to leave behind a stable Afghanistan capable of
governing itself, this military escalation may well be
counterproductive," the letter says. And it warns that "any perceived
military success in Afghanistan might create pressure to increase
military activity in Pakistan. This could very well lead to dangerous
destabilization in the region and would increase hostility toward the
United States."
More than 400 members of the House declined to sign the letter. In
effect, they failed to join in a historic challenge to a prevailing
assumption -- that the U.S. government must use massive violence for
many more years to try to work Washington's will on Afghanistan.
An old red-white-and-blue bumper sticker says: "These colors don't
run."
A newer one says: "These colors don't run... the world."
Now, it's time for another twist: "These colors won't run...
Afghanistan."
But denial and evasion are in the political air.
Norman Solomon is the author of Made Love, Got War.
Article Source : http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon03242009.html