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...of the Afghan people.
But the tragedy doesn’t end here. Through their actions, the Americans have created a cultural disaster for the Afghanis. The bulk of the Afghan people adhered to a conservative Muslim religion within the context of an almost feudal, tribal society, but they were not extremists. Their governments had always been basically secular, especially the Taraki government. It was Taraki’s attempt to bring in social and economic changes as well as land reform that riled up the mullahs, who were major landlords and who objected to all change. The CIA then brought in the extremist zealots from the Middle East and together with Pakistani extremists, the mujahedeen were created. The Pakistanis, with US support, taught thousands of young Afghan boys in their madrasa religious schools to become the devout Taliban. Once in power, the Taliban established these schools in Afghanistan. Equally important, while the mujahedeen and the Taliban were in power, they systematically killed off or forced into exile all progressive-minded people, especially anyone suspected of being a socialist or a Marxist. So the effect of the CIA involvement has been to incubate in Afghanistan two religious-based factions, with a philosophy of foreign origin – the mujahedeen and the Taliban -- and at the same time to eliminate almost all progressive-minded people. In effect, over a period of years, the Americans systematically undermined the prospects of any progressive secular form of government in Afghanistan -- for the foreseeable future.
So this is what we now have in Afghanistan, two factions in what is turning out to be a civil war. Moreover, the majority of the people, seeing no improvement in their daily lives, want all the foreigners out. In fact, for many people, the Soviets have simply been replaced by the Americans – and they make no distinction between Americans and any of their NATO allies.
The UN and the various aid agencies and NGOs, while trying to help, create major problems in the course of their operations. A good deal of their aid has been wasted, and they’ve contributed to the people’s poverty by creating inflation (16% in 2005) and increasing the cost of living – prices of mutton have quadrupled.30 In a recent report for the Overseas Development Institute, Ashraf Ghani, the chancellor of Kabul University and former Karzai finance minister, has stated that in 2002 about 90 percent of the $1 billion spent on 400 aid projects was wasted.31 The report cites a series of problems. The country’s 280,000 civil servants earn an average of $50 a month, while about 50,000 Afghans work for aid organizations where the support staff earn up to $1000 a month. With more than 2,400 aid agencies and NGOs registered in the country, the government is having difficulty trying to hold on to its staff. The report is filled with examples of waste and inefficiency. Where the Afghan government could build a school for about $40,000, an international aid agency undertook the task of building 500 schools, at a cost of $250,000 each. The Afghan government would hire local contractors, but the aid agencies spend 80 percent of the funds on foreign technical assistance and imported staff and supplies. Another example is the highway that was built between Kabul and Kandahar which the Afghan government estimated would cost $35 million if they built it – it was eventually built by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) at a cost of more than $190 million. Also the best and sometimes the only decent housing goes to foreign staff (3 – 4,000 foreign civilians), and this raises rents to levels that ordinary people can’t afford – in some areas up to 1000 percent.32 Hence thousands of Afghanis continue to live in the bombed out rubble of much of Kabul, which somehow has not been a priority for reconstruction with low-cost housing. Expensive foreign contractors and consultants often duplicate or replace work that could be done by the Afghan government. Some of the foreign experts refuse to teach their skills to Afghan counterparts, because in time it would do away with their own jobs.
Another recent report on Afghanistan’s 'reconstruction' written by Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American journalist, is devastating and 'confirms that Afghanistan has been 'Enron-ized' by the Bush administration.'33 The report states that foreign contractors 'make as much as US$1,000 a day, while the Afghans they employ make $5 per day.' It reveals that the USAID 'gives contracts to American companies (and the World Bank and IMF give contracts to companies from their donor countries) who take huge chunks off the top and hire layers and layers of subcontractors who take their cuts, leaving only enough for sub-par construction.' The result is collapsing hospitals, clinics and schools, rutted and dangerous new highways, and 'help' for farmers that leaves many of them worse off than before. Overall, countless millions have been wasted through misdirection, inefficiency, and corruption – leaving in its wake an alienated Afghan population. The reality is that the bulk of the people continue to languish in grinding poverty, with less clean water and electricity than before the war. The aid agencies have helped, but at great cost, and they have not endeared themselves to the local people.
After almost five years of occupation and '$8 billion of poorly managed development aid, a significant number of Afghans have grown tired of the ‘international community’ and its military occupation.'34 As for that military presence, despite the 32,000 American and NATO troops, there has been a steady deterioration of security for civilians – and a growing fury at American air strikes that have killed hundreds of innocent civilians and the occurrence of 'coalition-led house searches, random detentions and last year’s revelations of torture at Bagram air base.'35
In his position as the Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Hamid Gul, has followed developments in Afghanistan for years. In a recent interview this was his grim assessment:
When this sort of mass resistance starts, it means it is a collective decision of the Afghans. So, you can see that though the Taliban resistance is centered in a very specific area, sporadic incidents have erupted all over . . . This is the tip of the iceberg you are watching; the situation will further escalate as the whole environment is now conducive to resistance . . . . The jirgas are unanimous: there will be all-out war in Afghanistan.36
Given this situation, there is no easy solution to the Afghan problem. Historically, the British were defeated with the loss of thousands of lives, and so were the Soviets. Somewhat surprisingly, even President Karzai has recently become sharply critical of the American-led occupation and the 'anti-terror strategy,' saying, 'I strongly believe . . . that we must engage strategically in disarming terrorism by stopping their sources of supply of money, training, equipment and motivation. It is not acceptable for us that in all this fighting, Afghans are dying. In the past three to four weeks, 500 to 600 Afghans were killed. [Even] if they are Taliban, they are sons of this land.'37 Karzai's sensible offer of an amnesty to the Taliban in 2003 had been rejected, but this may be the only solution.
Much of Afghanistan is now in a state of chaos and civil war. There is no such thing as peace-keeping in the country. The war will rage on indefinitely and in time the entire Afghan population will rise up to throw out the foreigners. Rather than wait for that, the Americans and all their supporters should get out, totally – in the way that they should get out of Iraq. Although it’s the Americans that created the disaster to begin with – in both countries -- it seems it will have to be the indigenous people to somehow resolve the problems.
And when it comes to Canada, what are the Canadians doing pulling American chestnuts out of the Afghan fire?
--John Ryan, Ph.D., is a retired professor of geography and senior scholar at the University of Winnipeg in Canada. He can be reached at
Notes and References
1 Declan Walsh, 'UN Report Accuses MPs of Terror and Massacres,' The Guardian, June 12, 2006. http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1795546,00.html
2 Although a number of sources have maintained the Hamid Karzai had once acted as a consultant or an adviser to the American oil company Unocal, both the company and Karzai have denied this. The denial may be true, but it may be that his work was laundered through sub-contractors so it would be difficult to prove. Le Monde in a December 5, 2002 profile of Karzai stated: 'After studying law in Kabul and India, he completed his training in the United States where he was for a time a consultant for the American oil company Unocal, when it was studying the construction of a pipeline in Afghanistan.' Le Monde has refused to retract the story. The claim had also been made in January 2002 in Le Monde diplomatique by senior writer Pierre Abramovici in a major article, 'The US and the Taliban: A Done Deal,' which concludes with: 'It then emerged that during the negotiations over the Afghan oil pipeline, Karzai had been a consultant for Unocal.' The article is available at http://www.christusrex.org/www1/icons/abramovici.html Other equally significant articles abound: Wayne Madsen, 'Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the Bush Oil Team,' Centre for Research on Globalization, January 23, 2002. Madsen claims that Karzai not only worked as a senior adviser to Unocal but for years had close relations with CIA Director William Casey http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MAD201A.html; Iiene R. Prusher, Scott Baldauf, and Edward Girardet, 'Afghan Power Brokers,' Christian Science Monitor, June 10, 2002 http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0610/p01s03-wosc.htm; Umberine Syed, 'Oil Power Shines Bright: The Wealth of Central Asia,' IslamOnLine.net http://www.islamonline.net/English/Views/2002/01/article5.shtml
3 A short account and the text of the agreement appears in: 'Turkmen-Afghan-Pakistani gas pipeline accord published,' Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections, Volume 7, Issue # 13, June 27, 2002. http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nts22622.htm ; Faraz Hashmi, 'Trilateral gas pipeline agreement signed: Musharraf, Niyazov & Karzai vow to boost trade,' Dawn Internet Edition, May 31, 2002. http://www.dawn.com/2002/05/31/top1.htm ; Rory McCarthy, 'Pipe Dream,' The Guardian, May 31, 2002. http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,725433,00.html
4 Fred Halliday, 'Revolution in Afghanistan,' New Left Review, No. 112, pp. 3-44, 1978; Also cited in William Blum, Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995, p. 340.
5 Jonathan Neale, 'The Afghan Tragedy,' International Socialism, 2:12, Spring 1981, from the section 'Afghan Society' http://www.marxists.de/middleast/neale/afghan.htm#top
6 All these reforms and government measures were explained to me at considerable length by the Dean of Agriculture and some of the professors during a lengthy session at Kabul University.
7 Blum, op. cit., p. 351.
8 The Economist (London), September 11, 1979, p. 44. The article notes that during the first year and a half of the new government 'no restrictions had been imposed on religious practice.'
9 Newsweek, April 16, 1979, p.64 acknowledges that the mullahs were rich landowners; New York Times, April 13, 1979, p. 8 includes the comment that the religious issue 'is being used by some Afghans who actually object more to President Taraki’s plans for land reforms and other changes in this feudal society.'
10 Eqbal Ahmad, 'Terrorism: Theirs and Ours,' (A Presentation at the University of Colorado, Boulder, October 12, 1993) http://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/Ahmad.htm; Cullen Murphy, 'The Gold Standard: The quest for the Holy Grail of equivalence,' Atlantic Monthly, January 2002 http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200201/murphy
11 Blum, op. cit., p. 343; 'How the CIA turns foreign students into traitors,' Ramparts (San Francisco), April 1967, pp. 23-24; Phillip Bonosky, Washington’s Secret War Against Afghanistan, New York: International Publishers, 1985, pp.33-34; The Truth About Afghanistan: Documents, Facts, Eyewitness Reports, Moscow: Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, 1980, pp. 83-96; Washington Post, December 23, 1979, p. A8.
12 Blum, p. 343; Bonosky, p. 52.
13 The Truth About Afghanistan, op. cit., pp. 91-92.
14 Ibid.
15 Washington Post, December 23, 1979, p.A8. Soviet troops had started arriving in Afghanistan on December 8, to which the article states: 'There was no charge [by the State Department] that the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, since the troops apparently were invited.'
16 'How Jimmy Carter and I Started the Mujahideen': Interview of Zbigniew Brzezinski Le Nouvel Observateur (France), Jan 15-21, 1998, p. 76 http://www.counterpunch.org/brzezinski.html
17 Ahmed Rashid, 'The Taliban: Exporting Extremism,' Foreign Affairs, November-December 1999. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/background/terrorism -- currently the full text of the article is in: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/Rashid99.html
18 Washington Post, May 11, 1979, p.12. The story reports that a 'favourite tactic' of the mujahedeen was 'to torture victims [often Russians] by first cutting off their noses, ears, and genitals, then removing one slice of skin after another,' leading to 'a slow, very painful death'; Washington Post, January 13, 1985. The article describes Russian prisoners caged like animals and 'living lives of indescribable horror'; John Fullerton, The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, (London), 1984 cites a journalist from the Far Eastern Economic Review reporting that 'one [Soviet] group was killed, skinned and hung up in a butcher’s shop' – cited in Blum, op. cit., p. 348.
19 D. Zayar, 'Afghanistan, Bin Laden and the hypocrisy of American imperialism,' In Defence of Marxism, September 26, 2001.
20 'When the U.S. committed $43 million in aid to Afghanistan in May 2001, it brought the total of U.S. aid to the country that year alone to $124 million,' cited in article by Joseph Farah, 'Murray pushed for aid to Taliban before to 9/11,' WorldNetDaily.com, December 26, 2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30166 ; 'This year, the U.S. allocated $120 million in aid to Afghanistan, including $43 million in food aid during the month of May,' cited in report by James Ridgeway, 'Taliban Twists Shrub With Poppy Politics: Bush’s Opium Blender,' Village Voice, June 20-26, 2001 http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0125,ridgeway,25704,6.html; For pipeline negotiations see Le Monde diplomatique article by Pierre Abramovici, 'The US and the Taliban: A Done Deal,' which states: 'The task of negotiating [a pipeline deal] with the Taliban was given to Christina Rocca, the new assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs . . . . on 29 July [2001], Christina Rocca held unsuccessful discussions with the Taliban ambassador in Pakistan' http://www.christusrex.org/www1/icons/abramovici.html
21 Diana Johnstone, Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions, New York: Monthly Review Press, 2002, pp. 61-62; personal communication with Canada’s former ambassador to Yugoslavia, James Bissett.
22 'Taliban repeats call for negotiations,' CNN.com, October 2, 2001, includes comment: 'Afghanistan’s ruling Taiban repeated its demand for evidence before it would hand over suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Ladin.' http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/02/ret.afghan.taliban/; Noam Chomsky, 'The War on Afghanistan,' Znet, December 30, 2001 http://www.globalpolicy.org/wtc/targets/1230chomsky.htm
23 Ed Haas, 'FBI says, it has ‘No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11’,' Muckraker Report, June 6, 2006. http://www.teamliberty.net/id267.html
24 'Bin Laden says he wasn’t behind attacks,' CNN.com, September 17, 2001. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/
25 'Pentagon Releases Bin Laden Videotape: US officials say tape links him to September 11 attacks,' NPR.org, December 13, 2001. http://www.npr.org/news/specials/response/investigation/011213.binladen.tape.html
26 A Google search identifies dozens of articles questioning the authenticity of the December 13, 2001 tape. The following has good photos comparing the real bin Laden with the fake in the tape: 'The fake bin Laden video tape,' http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osamatape.html ; Other more recent articles discuss the December 13, 2001 tape as well as another fake tape that came out on January 17, 2006 in which bin Laden implicitly confesses his responsibility for orchestrating the 9/11 attacks: Scholars for 9/11 Truth, 'Osama Tape Appears Fake, Experts Conclude,' GlobalResearch.ca, June 1, 2006 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=SCH20060601&articleId=2555 ; 'Osama’s tape: Latest of US fabrications?' Alt.Peace, June 2, 2006. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.peace/browse_thread/thread/47de1d835a560202
27 Robert Kuttner, editor, American Prospect, November 5, 2001, as cited by Noam Chomsky, op. cit.
28 Chomsky, ibid.
29 Barry Bearak, 'Leaders of the Old Afghanistan Prepare for the New,' NYT, October 25, 2001; John Thornhill and Farhan Bokhari, 'Traditional leaders call for peace jihad,' FT, October 25, 2001; 'Afghan peace assembly call,' FT, October 26, 2001; John Burns, 'Afghan Gathering in Pakistan Backs Future Role for King,' NYT, October 26, 2001; Indira Laskhmanan, '1,000 Afghan leaders discuss a new regime, BG, October 25, 26, 2001; Noam Chomsky, op. cit.
30 Edward Harris, 'Many Afghans resent foreigners’ presence,' Yahoo! News, May 30, 2006.
31 Toby Poston, 'Millions of dollars worth of aid money is being wasted,' BBC News, February 26, 2006 http://www.rawa.org/rebuild2.htm
32 Harris, op. cit.
33 William Fisher, 'The fall and fall of Afghanistan,' Inter Press Service, May 8, 2006 http://www.e-ariana.com/ariana/eariana.nsf/allArticles/8C6E3E215C3BCAF28725716800501EDA?OpenDocument
34 Christian Parenti, 'Fury Over Foreigners,' The Nation, February 7, 2006 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060220/parenti
35 Ibid.
36 Syed Saleem Shahzad, 'The battle spreads in Afghanistan,' Asia Times Online, May 26, 2006 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HE26Df01.html
37 Tini Tran, Associate Press Writer, 'Karzai decries anti-terror strategy,' [AP-CP] Winnipeg Free Press, June 23, 2006, p. A20.
