Oppose the Taliban’s war on women!

 

Written by: Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan on 19 May 2022

The following statement on the Taliban’s misogynistic repression of Afghan women was recently released by the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan. It followed the Taliban’s reactionary decree on enforcing the wearing of the hijab.  Down with patriarchy everywhere! 
 

Organize, Resist, and Fightback against the Taliban's war on Women.

The Taliban has stepped up its efforts to establish a gender apartheid regime, re-enacting the unnerving misogynist policies that earned them infamy in the 1990s. The vile Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which is callously yet meaningfully and deliberately housed in the compound of the now-defunct Ministry of Women's Affairs, has ordered all women in the country to hide their faces in public and even avoid going out of their houses altogether, as "the best option to observe sharia hijab."

On May 7, the notorious ministry, in a male-only event, announced a decree aimed at the total erasure of women from public life. The order states that "women, who are not very young or very old must cover their faces." The decree identifies the burqa, which covers women's head-to-toe and only allows the eyes to see through a small grille, "as the best form of hijab."

The Taliban announced, "obeying the decree obligatory" and, in a sinister scheme, obliges women's male "guardians" or employers to enforce the order, denying women's humanity and agency. The decree warns that women who do not obey the order will have their houses identified, and their male "guardians" first warned and later punished and imprisoned. Moreover, women working in public service and government institutions who don't comply will be fired. The decree announces to suspend government male employees if their female relatives fail to comply.

This new draconian misogynist decree is the latest in a series of attacks on women's rights since the Taliban returned to power in August last year. They ordered women to stay home in their second week in power because their fighters weren't trained to respect them. Later, in September, they banned education for girls beyond grade six. In December, they banned women from traveling without a male chaperone. Now, the new decree requiring all women to cover their faces will compound’s oppression and rob them of their personal and social identities and deny them the basic right to choose their clothes. These misogynist policies are further intensifying Afghanistan's social and economic crisis. When 98 percent of the country's population is starving, the Taliban put the country's female population under house arrest and deny them the very right to earn a living.

The very essence of the Taliban's ideology and politics put them in enmity with the masses in the country. Their regime lacks any modicum of legitimacy. In the Taliban's reactionary ideology, which claims to be ruling on behalf of God, there is no value given to the masses' consent. Their only method of governance is to use coercion and brute force.

The Taliban's Islamic Emirate is a textbook example of a weak and illegitimate political regime with a thin social base. It is no wonder the question that their rule will not last long is the topic of discussion everywhere. No doubt the Taliban's plague will fade away and collapse. However, the real question is, will the country's people be able to determine their own political destiny? Because if they fail to form their own popular, revolutionary leadership and take charge of their social and political future, the collapse of the Taliban regime could bring about new social and political disasters. For more than forty years, the people of the country are suffering by the barbarism that imperialists, social-imperialists, and reactionary Islamists are brewing for them. This barbarism will stay and could intensify if it is not met with the organized response of the masses of people. The people of Afghanistan will continue to suffer in the wretched hell of imperialism, reactionary Islamism, and ethnonationalism, or they will organize and become the masters of their destiny and move towards a progressive new democratic and socialist future.

As we have witnessed repeatedly, there is no end to the Taliban's irrational animosity towards women. Yet, women of Afghanistan have bravely stood up and continue to oppose the Taliban's anti-human policies with tenacity and determination in the face of severe repression and violence, which is a source of courage and hope for a better future. Therefore, communist, and revolutionary forces must organize against the Taliban's war against women. Communist and revolutionary forces must enhance their organizing, agitation, and propaganda among women masses towards shattering the Taliban's gender apartheid regime.

Our struggle in Afghanistan is part of the global struggle of the toiling masses for a better future. Therefore, we are calling on all democratic, progressive, workers, and communist forces worldwide to stand in solidarity with the people’s, especially women's struggle in Afghanistan, and support the fight against the normalization of the Taliban regime.

Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan condemns the Taliban's insane misogyny and war against women. We are determined to struggle and organize until the Taliban regime is buried in the people's anger and overthrown patriarchy, semi-feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism, and imperialism, making the people the master of their destiny.

Down with the patriarchy!
Down with Taliban's misogynist theocracy!
Long live the new democratic and socialist revolution!
Long live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!

Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan
10 May 2022

 

RAWA Responds to the Taliban Takeover

 

Written by: Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan on 26 August 2021

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as an independent political/social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan. Its founder was the martyred revolutionary comrade, Meena. RAWA has always been active in opposing imperialism, the corruption of the Kabul government, and the religious fascism of the Taliban. Some of our comrades might remember the speaking tour of Australia by RAWA spokesperson Malalai Joya in March 2007.  She was here to promote her book Raising My Voice, and the follow-up speaking tour by Sohalia in July-August 2007. 

We are pleased to publish here an interview with a RAWA spokesperson.  It addresses the people of the USA, but is just as relevant for Australians - editors.

Sonali Kolhatkar: For years RAWA spoke out against the U.S. occupation and now that it has ended, the Taliban are back. Could President Biden have withdrawn U.S. forces in a manner that would have left Afghanistan in a safer situation than currently? Could he have done more to ensure the Taliban were not so quickly able to take over?

RAWA: In the past 20 years, one of our demands was an end to the US/NATO occupation and even better if they take their Islamic fundamentalists and technocrats with them and let our people decide their own fate. This occupation only resulted in bloodshed, destruction and chaos. They turned our country into the most corrupt, insecure, drug-mafia and dangerous place especially for women.

From the very beginning we could predict such an outcome. On the first days of the US occupation of Afghanistan, RAWA declared on October 11, 2001:
“The continuation of US attacks and the increase in the number of innocent civilian victims not only gives an excuse to the Taliban, but also will cause the empowerment of the fundamentalist forces in the region and even in the world.”

The main reason we were against this occupation was their backing of terrorism under the nice banner of “war on terror”. From the very first days when the Northern Alliance looters and killers were installed back into power in 2002 to the last so-called peace talks, deals and agreements in Doha and release of 5000 terrorists from prisons in 2020/21, it was very obvious that even the withdrawal won’t have a good end.

The Pentagon proves that none of the theory invasion or meddling ended up in safe condition. All imperialist powers invade countries for their own strategic, political and financial interests but through lies and the powerful corporate media try to hide their real motive and agenda.

It is a joke to say values like “women’s rights”, “democracy”, “nation-building” etc. were part of the US/NATO aims in Afghanistan! US was in Afghanistan to turn region into instability and terrorism to encircling the rival powers especially China and Russia and undermining their economies via regional wars. But of course, the US government did not want such a disastrous, disgraceful and embarrassing exit that left behind such a commotion that they were forced to send troops again in 48 hours to control the airport and safely evacuate its diplomats and staff.

We believe the US left Afghanistan out of its own weaknesses, and not because it was not defeated by its creatures (Taliban). There are two significant reasons for this withdrawal. 

The main reason is the multifold internal crisis in the US. The signs of the US system’s decline were seen in the weak response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the attack on Capitol Hill and the great protests of the US public in the past few years. The policy-makers were forced to withdraw troops to focus on internal burning issues.

The second reason is that the Afghan war was an exceptionally expensive war whose cost has gone into trillions, all taken from taxpayer money. This put such a heavy dent on the US financially that it had to leave Afghanistan.

The war-mongering policies prove that their aim was never to make Afghanistan safer, let alone now when they are leaving. Furthermore, they also knew that the withdrawal would be chaotic yet they still went ahead and did it. Now Afghanistan is in the limelight again due to the Taliban being in power but this has been the situation for the past 20 years and everyday hundreds of our people were killed and our country destroyed - it was just rarely reported in the media. 

Sonali Kolhatkar: The Taliban leadership are saying they will respect women’s rights as long as it complies with Islamic law. Some Western media are painting this in a positive light. Didn’t the Taliban say the same thing 20 years ago? Do you think there is any change in their attitude toward human rights and women’s rights?

RAWA: The corporate media is only trying to put salt on our devastated people’s wounds; they should be ashamed of themselves the way they try to sugarcoat the brutal Taliban. The Taliban spokesperson declared that there is no difference between their ideology of 1996 and today. And what they say about women’s rights is the exact phrases used during their previous dark rule: implementing Sharia law.

These days the Taliban have declared an amnesty in all parts of Afghanistan and their slogan is ‘what the joy of amnesty can bring, revenge cannot’. But in reality they are killing people every day. Just yesterday a boy was shot dead in Nangarhar only for carrying the tricolored Afghan national flag instead of the white flag of Taliban. They executed four former army officials in Kandahar, arrested a young Afghan poet Mehran Popal in Herat province for writing anti-Taliban posts on Facebook and his whereabouts is unknown to his family. These are just a few examples of their violent actions despite the “nice” and polished words of their spokespersons.

But we believe their claims may be one of the dramas being played by the Taliban and they are just trying to buy more time till they can organize themselves. Things happened so fast and they are trying to build-up their government structure, create their intelligence and make the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which is responsible for controlling the little details of people’s daily lives like the length of the beard, the dress code and having a Mahram (male companion, only father, brother or husband) for a woman. Taliban claim that we are not against women’s rights but that it should be within the framework Islamic/Sharia laws.

Islamic/Sharia law is vague and construed in different ways by Islamic regimes to benefit their own political agendas and rules. Furthermore, the Taliban would also like the West to acknowledge them and take them seriously, and all these claims are part of painting a whitewashed image for themselves. Maybe after a few months they would say that we will hold elections since we believe in justice and democracy! These pretences will never change their true nature, and will still be Islamic fundamentalists: misogynist, inhuman, barbaric, reactionary, anti-democracy and anti-progressive. In a word, the Taliban mentality has not changed and will never change!

Sonali Kolhatkar: Why did the Afghan National Army and the U.S. backed Afghan government fall apart so quickly?

RAWA: Some major reasons out of many are:

1) Everything was done according to a deal to handover Afghanistan to Taliban. The US govt. negotiating with Pakistan and other regional players had an agreement to form a govt. mainly composed of Taliban. So, the soldiers were not ready to be killed in a war that they knew there was of no benefit to the Afghan people in it because finally it is set behind closed doors to bring Taliban to power. Zalmay Khalilzad is highly hated among Afghan people due to his treacherous role in bringing the Taliban back to power.

2) Most Afghans understand well that the war going on in Afghanistan is not the war of Afghans and for the benefit of the country, but waged by foreign powers for their own strategic interests and Afghans are just fuel for the war. Majority of the young people are joining the forces because of severe poverty and unemployment so they have no commitment and morale to fight. It is worth mentioning that the United States and the West have tried for 20 years to keep Afghanistan a consumer country and have hindered the growth of industry. This situation created a wave of unemployment and poverty, paving the way for the recruitments of the puppet government, the Taliban and growth of opium production.

3) Afghan forces were not so weak as to be defeated in the course of a week, but they were receiving orders from the presidential palace not to fight back against the Taliban and should surrender. Most provinces were peacefully handed over to the Taliban.

4) The puppet regime of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani were calling Taliban “dissatisfied brothers” for years, and released many of their most ruthless commanders and leaders from prisons.  Asking Afghan soldiers to fight a force that is not called “enemy” but “brother”, emboldened the Taliban and hit the morale of the Afghan armed forces.

5) The armed forces were unprecedentedly plagued by corruption. The large number of generals (mostly former brutal warlords of the Northern Alliance) sitting in Kabul grabbed millions of $, they took a cut even from food and salary of soldiers fighting in the frontlines. “Ghost soldiers” was a phenomenon exposed by SIGAR. High-ranking officials were busy filling their own pockets; they channelled the salary and rations of tens of thousands of none-existing soldiers into their own bank accounts.

6) Whenever forces were besieged by Taliban in the hard fight, their call for help was ignored by Kabul. In numerous cases tens of soldiers were massacred by Taliban when they were deserted without ammunition and food for weeks. Therefore, the rate of casualties among the armed forces was very high. In the World Economic Forum (Davos 2019), Ashraf Ghani confessed that since 2014 over 45,000 Afghan security personnel have been killed, while in the same period only 72 personnel of US/NATO were killed.

7) Overall in society growing corruption, injustice, unemployment, insecurity, uncertainty, fraud, vast poverty, drugs and smuggling, etc. provided a ground for the re-emergence of the  Taliban. 

Sonali Kolhatkar: What is the best way for Americans to help RAWA and Afghan people and women right now?

RAWA: We feel very lucky and happy to have the freedom-loving people of the US with us during all these years. We need the Americans to raise their voice and protest against their government’s war-mongering policies and support the strengthening of the people’s struggle in Afghanistan against these barbarians.
It is human nature to resist and the history bears witness. We have the glorious examples of US struggle “Occupy Wall Street” and “Black Lives Matter” movements. We have seen that no amount of oppression, tyranny and violence can stop resistance. Women will not be shackled anymore! Just the next morning after the Taliban entered the capital, a group of our young brave women painted graffiti on the walls of Kabul with the slogan: Down with Taliban!  Our women are now politically conscious and no longer want to live under the Burqa, something they easily did 20 years ago. We will continue our struggles while finding smart ways to stay safe.

We think the inhuman US military empire is not only the enemy of the Afghan people but the biggest threat to world peace and instability. Now that the system is on the verge of decline, it is the duty of all peace-loving, progressive, leftist and justice-loving individuals and groups to intensify their fight against the brutal war-mongers in the White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol Hill. Replacing the rotten system with a just and humane one will not only liberate millions of poor and oppressed American people but will have a lasting effect on every corner of the world.

Now our fear is that the world may forget Afghanistan and Afghan women like under the Taliban bloody rule in late 90s. Therefore, the US progressive people and institutions should not forget Afghan women.

We will raise our voice louder and continue our resistance and fight for secular democracy and women’s rights!

Statement of the Central Committee of the CPA (M-L) on events in Afghanistan

 Written by: Central Committee, CPA (M-L) on 19 August 2021

The Communist Part of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) welcomes the withdrawal, in defeat, of US imperialist aggressor forces and their accomplices from Afghanistan. 

The withdrawal of US imperialist military forces and the fall of its Afghani puppet government is a tribute to the long and determined resistance by the Afghani people to imperialist occupations of their country by the British, Russians and now the US and its allies.

The new government of the Taliban represents the Afghani peoples’ desire for independence, but is a reactionary religio-fascist organisation with a track-record of cruel oppression of secular Afghans, women and national minorities such as the Hazara.   

Focus in Australia is currently on the attempts to withdraw from Kabul, those Afghans who had cooperated with Australian occupation forces.  Prime Minister Morrison said on Tuesday that “They fought under our flag and for our values”. This clearly shows that he sees Afghanistan as a possession of imperialism, that he is incapable of understanding an oppressed people’s desire for independence and liberation. It clearly shows his refusal to acknowledge the war crimes committed by a number of Australian soldiers which can only have been committed by soldiers undertaking occupation and denial of other people’s rights to independence. 

As US imperialism inflicts the humiliation of a desperate withdrawal on itself, other imperialist powers are busy in the background.  A Taliban delegation was in China only weeks ago.  China once supported the Afghan people’s fight against the occupying forces of Soviet social-imperialism and a Marxist-Leninist Party, armed with Mao Zedong’s Thought, was active in the anti-Soviet fight.  Remnants of that Party remain and continue the fight for independence and socialism, but they are not strong enough to defeat the reactionary Taliban at this time.

Now China and Russia are advising the Taliban on the best way to stabilise the country so that they can exploit its resources and its people. Chinese Premier Wang Yi said yesterday that, “under the new circumstance, China and Russia are necessary to strengthen communication and coordination in order to support each other to protect the two countries' legitimate interests in Afghanistan - personnel, companies and organizations.” 

In order to protect their companies operating in Afghanistan they have been advising the Taliban to “build a broad-based and inclusive political structure and friendly and peaceful foreign policies”, advice echoed in the Taliban’s first press conference.  If the advice calms tensions in Afghanistan, it will have served a useful purpose, but it is essentially self-serving, and its ready acceptance shows the influence that the newer imperialisms already have over the Taliban government.

Our observations, necessarily at a distance and on the basis of a limited understanding, are that the very welcome defeat of US imperialism and its accomplices does not yet guarantee the independence of Afghanistan, and that under the Taliban’s new government, the struggle for secularism, for women’s rights, for self-determination for national minorities, and for democracy, land redistribution and democratic rights will continue within the framework of a fight for socialism.

The defeat of US imperialist military and its allies in Afghanistan encourages the people’s movement in Australia to end the US-Australia alliance and Australian support for US-led wars and occupations.  It reinforces the struggle for Australia’s anti-imperialist independence from all imperialist powers.

 

US invasion force leaves as Taliban enter Kabul

 Written by: Maoist Communist Party of Afghanistan on 16 August 2021

We are repinting below a statement of the Communist Party of Afghanistan (Maoist).  It was released last March in the wake of President Biden's decision on the withdrawal of US troops. Many of its predictions are coming true as we witness the collapse of the puppet regime and the advance of the Taliban. 

Statement of the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan on the announcement of the withdrawal of the American occupying forces from Afghanistan

On April 13 Joe Biden the president of the United States announced that he is “ending the longest war of America’s history” by withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 this year.

Choosing 11 September as the date for the withdrawal of the US troops is an attempt by the Biden administration to reinforce this lie that the objective of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan was the fight against terrorism. Biden stated: “We went to war with clear goals.  We achieved those objectives.  Bin Laden is dead, and al Qaeda is degraded in Iraq — and in Afghanistan.” However, the truth is the US imperialists have failed in their objectives in Afghanistan.

The war in Afghanistan was started for implementing “the project for new American century,” a plan to prevent the decline of American supremacy through military means. This plan was devised by the neoconservatives in the Bush administration to prevent the decline of American hegemony through warmongering, invasion, and occupation of the imperialist-dominated countries. This strategy also became known as the “Bush doctrine,” which allows for the US “preventive” military actions. Although, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan were conducted under the label of war on terrorism after September 11, however, in reality, the invasion of Afghanistan was the implementation of Bush doctrine, whose objective was strengthening the world domination of the American imperialism, to build a unipolar world through military aggression and aggression against the occupied countries. The perpetrators of this plan were talking of an “endless war” from the very beginning. This strategy began with the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and continued with the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Barack Obama and Donald Trump not only continued the "Bush doctrine" and the “endless war" policy but also expanded the US aggression to other West Asian and African countries. Now, although the US is withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, the United States is not seeking an end to "endless warfare.” Joe Biden stated: “At my direction, my team is refining our national strategy to monitor and disrupt significant terrorist threats not only in Afghanistan, but anywhere they may arise — and they’re in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere” Thus, the war and aggression that started by the neo-conservatives under the Bush administration under the name of “War on Terror" will continue to be waged by the Biden administration. Therefore, the claim that the United States has achieved its "specific goals" in Afghanistan is nothing more than a lie. Apparently, one of these "specific goals" was to eliminate Islamist terrorists in Afghanistan, the forces that previously the US imperialists had created supported and equipped in the region. The invasion and occupation of Afghanistan not only did not destroy these forces but also increased the scope for their activities and ideology. For this reason, in addition to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, ISIS is now active in Afghanistan.

Another "specific goal" was to establish a puppet regime to protect imperialist interests in Afghanistan. In this regard, the United States has borne the cost of forming and advancing a puppet government. But this puppet regime, after twenty years of efforts, still lacks legitimacy and political cohesion and is on the verge of collapse. This regime consists of bourgeois-comprador and semi-feudal political forces that agree only on national treason and serfdom to imperialism. These forces are divided into two groups, which have existed since the beginning of the puppet regime. The dominant faction within the regime wants a presidential system, that is, to maintain the current structure. But the opposition, especially the Jamiat-e-Islami party, wants a restructuring to a decentralized system in which executive power is divided between the president and a prime minister. This split within the regime is an important factor of its current incohesion and could play as a factor in its eventual collapse; for this reason, many are worried about the onset and intensity of the "civil war" in Afghanistan.

Joe Biden, visiting the graves of slain soldiers in Afghanistan, stated with colonial arrogance: “From the very beginning, you may recall, I never thought we were there to somehow unify . . . Afghanistan” This is another lie that the leaders of American imperialism are telling to deflect their destructive role in Afghanistan over the past four decades. American leaders pretend that the current social crisis, war, and reactionary violence, and the rise of fundamentalist groups in Afghanistan, including the Taliban and ISIS, have nothing to do with the US aggression or imperialist policies. Although, the forty-year crisis in Afghanistan at every stage has been a reflection of the contradictions and crises of the imperialist and social-imperialist capitalist system. This crisis began with the aggression and occupation of Soviet social imperialism and intensified with the rise of fundamentalist forces and the direct aggression and occupation of US imperialism and its allies. Now twenty years of war and occupation have intensified the scope of this social, political, and economic crisis and has increased class division to an unprecedented level. The bourgeoisie-bureaucratic comprador, which controls the helms of the puppet regime, literally uses this institution as a jirga to divide the spoils and plunder. But the masses, the working classes, the peasantry, and the petty bourgeoisie are in the worst possible condition, suffering from poverty and the continuation of war and violence. In the last two decades, Afghanistan has always been at the top of the most corrupt countries in the world, because national traitors and the reactionary forces controlling the puppet regime is only after capital accumulation by plundering imperialist aid and plundering the commons and the properties of the masses.

The Taliban have not yet clearly outlined their preferred political system. The former political system of the Taliban, under the name of the Islamic Emirate, was an authoritarian and theocratic regime headed by a mullah as Amir al-Mu'minin. But the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate system does not have support within the country and also does not the blessing of regional and international powers, and this is clear to the Taliban leadership.  Russia, China, India, Iran, and even Pakistan do not want the Islamic Emirate to return to power. That is why the Taliban intensification of war is more for making gains in the peace talks. Now they are demanding the release of the group's prisoners and the removal of the Taliban leadership from the UN’s blacklist. If these demands are met, the Taliban will likely participate in the next rounds of negotiations.

Although the US imperialists have pledged to fund and support their puppet regime in the future, the withdrawal of the occupying forces, if implemented, could shift the military balance in favor of the Taliban. In the past Taliban had managed to seize districts and provincial capitals even when the puppet regime had the aerial support of the occupying powers. Therefore, it is predictable that after the withdrawal of the occupying forces, the Taliban will enter the battlefield with a stronger spirit.

The US imperialism is now hoping for an UN-led diplomatic effort to preserve its puppet regime which cost them $ 2 trillion to build. But the experience of a decade of diplomatic efforts for peace has shown that it is only good for intensifying war. Although US imperialism is likely to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, this does not mean the end of the US imperialist domination in Afghanistan and this also does not mean a Taliban victory. In case the diplomatic efforts are successful, and the Taliban are eventually integrated with the puppet regime, and it is the Taliban that is capitulating to the puppet regime and imperialism while the colonial situation of Afghanistan is continuing. The puppet regime's political, security, and military institutions would be reliant on the US imperialist support, and the security pacts between the US and the puppet regime will continue to maintain the dominance of imperialism over the country, and the puppet regime would be reliant on the support of its masters, and the US imperialists and its allies who have pledged to continue providing financial and weapons assistance to the puppet regime.

Biden unlike Trump has involved more countries in the affairs of Afghanistan and has achieved partial agreements from Russia and China, which could accelerate the process of compromise between the regime and the Taliban. Thus, if the efforts of the countries involved, Turkey, Qatar, and Pakistan, together with the United Nations, succeed, the Taliban will participate in the "peace process" meetings and the puppet regime will be reorganized by merging the Taliban within its ranks. The emerging government from the compromise will again represent the feudal-bourgeois-comprador class. While it will also increase the theocratic, national, and gender chauvinist aspects of the current regime. The Taliban have the same class base as the forces within the puppet regime. The Taliban, like the Mujahideen, had in the past been equipped and armed by US imperialism and its allies. In a government resulting from the combination of these reactionary and treacherous forces, the masses will be further under the yoke of class exploitation and double social oppression, and the accumulation of capital will continue with the plundering of the commons and at the cost of the pauperization of the masses. Therefore, it is clear that this process of reconciliation and collusion under the name of peace has nothing to do with real peace and in the country. The only real solution is a new democratic revolution with a socialist orientation; a new democratic revolution will make Afghanistan the base of the world revolution, or Afghanistan will remain the center of the world crisis, the hotbed of imperialists, and the center of activity of fundamentalist forces such as the Taliban, ISIS, and al-Qaeda. No doubt the situation is fast-changing, the changing circumstances have created new challenges and new opportunities for us, we should dare to face the new challenges and the new opportunities in the changing new circumstances and utilize them in enhancing the revolutionary path.

Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan

March 2021

 

As US Departs Afghanistan, A Changing Balance Of Forces Emerges

 

Written by: (Contributed) on 13 July 2021

The planned withdrawal of United States and NATO troops from Afghanistan is best viewed in the context of prolonged military failure resting upon decades of poor planning and questionable intelligence assessments.

Declassified documents from the period leave few doubts, in sensible minds, about the outcome.

Behind the scenes, however, other factors give reason to regard the US-led withdrawal as a hurried departure before greater problems, which have already begun to loom on the horizon, arise.

Earlier this year the US announced their intention to withdraw their military presence from Afghanistan by September. It would appear the logical outcome following the publication of a declassified documents by the Washington Post which revealed the Pentagon has been 'hiding unquestionable evidence the war had become unwinnable'. (1)

The documents, a collection of 2,000 pages of notes and 428 interviews, revealed a widespread military miscalculation and subsequent cover-up; early in the occupation then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was actually quoted as stating 'I have no visible information into who the bad guys are', as evidence of a massive intelligence failure. (2) In fact, the whole Bush administration, of which Rumsfeld formed part, appeared completely out of their depth in Afghanistan, from Day One of Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001. The operation had been planned by the Pentagon to specifically remove the Taliban from control of the country; it has proved a dismal failure.

Later US presidential administrations, following the closure of the operation on 28 December 2014, merely continued the military occupation without important questions being asked. There were, therefore, no sensible answers provided about the massive cost of the operation, loss of life and failure to achieve even limited objectives.

The estimated cost of the operation lies between $934 billion and $978 billion, not including costs incurred with CIA intelligence operations and Veterans Affairs medical expenses. (3)

More than 775,000 US troops served in Afghanistan; a total of 2,400 lives were lost together with a further 20,589 wounded. (4) When those of coalition allies are added, the totals rise 3,502 to 18 May last year, which include 41 Australians killed and a further 261 wounded.

The figures rest upon a further 60,000 Afghani security force personnel killed by the Taliban during the same period together with an estimated total of 157,000 lost lives amongst the civilian population.

At no time has any publicity been given to the position that the US was automatically responsible for the security of Afghanistan following their invasion. The US aid allocation of $133 billion to re-build Afghanistan was a fraction of what was required to transform the war-torn country. The fact Afghanistan was responsible for 82 per cent of global opium production in 2018 is evidence that after seventeen years the US and NATO military occupation of the country had not resolved even the most fundamental of social and health problems arising in their midst. (5) 

The roots of Operation Enduring Freedom lay hidden in military planning from the previous Cold War. While the stated intention was to promote 'democratic values', the quirky neo-conservative political philosophy was little other than a convenient cover for aggressive militarism and neo-colonial economic theories. It became fashionable during the period of the so-called New World Order. The theory had many supporters in Washington and the Pentagon, and would appear to have clouded their judgements when planning the Afghanistan debacle. Their military planning, to return to previous US diplomatic positions without concern or regard for practicalities of the present day, would appear to have taken place inside an ivory tower of their own making. 

Afghanistan was regarded as a strategic asset for the US during the 1950s Cold War period. During the 1950s-79 period, US foreign assistance amounted to about $500 million in loans and included King Zahir Shah visiting President John F. Kennedy in Washington in 1963. US Peace Corps and US Aid were also active in Afghanistan during the period 1962-79. (6)

Part of the US aid budget for Afghanistan included the construction and maintenance of the Bagram Air Base, a mini US city about fifty kms north of Kabul, which was used a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. Numerous other bases and military facilities were also established. The King, however, was later deposed in the early 1970s and the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in April, 1978, unleashing the forces of the Saur Revolution which included large-scale land distribution. The relations of production were marked by an almost pre-feudal system. The ruling PDPA administration in Kabul was supported by the former social-imperialist Soviet Union, which sent thousands of advisors. They were later backed in December, 1979, by a Soviet Army presence inside the country.

In response, US began supporting the Mujahideen, a collection of Islamic fundamentalists, fanatics and jihadists to destabilise the PDPA. It was a foolish move. They quickly evolved into the Taliban which seized power in Kabul in 1996 after a four year civil war following the PDPA administration falling in 1992.

Throughout the period a great deal of US aid was channelled through the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) organisation in neighbouring Pakistan which caused a huge disruption to the country and neighbouring region. Afghanistan, and other neighbouring countries, soon became a magnet for Sunni Islamic-backed terrorist organisations; they also bit the hand which fed them. 

Following the 9/11 terrorist outrages in the US, Afghanistan together with Iraq were held responsible and military invasions took place. Nearly twenty years later, however, the US and NATO forces were never able to establish control of Afghanistan.

In early July the announcement that all US and NATO troops had left the Bagram Air Base followed the military facility coming under rocket barrages claimed by Islamic State. It has revealed a seriously deteriorating security situation. (7) The base, which was the main command centre for anti-Taliban operations for nearly twenty years, was evacuated. (8)  

Elsewhere, reports the Taliban have already secured control of an estimated 85 per cent of the country, reveal the US-backed puppet administrations in Kabul and 34 provinces are in serious difficulty and likely to fall in due course. (9) A recent US intelligence assessment concluded the central government in Kabul 'could fall within six months of the US military departure'. (10)

Behind the scenes, however, moves by China to construct the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative across Afghanistan appear a strategic part of a changing balance of forces taking place across the wider region. Afghanistan, strategically, is the shortest route from China to the Middle East. An official diplomatic statement issued by Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Deputy Foreign Minister, noted the moves included 'a unique effort for China to re-unite the region … with … connectivity and co-operation among countries primarily in Euro-Asia … with sixteen countries connected by the OBOR'. (11) It was, furthermore, noted the initiative was a 'very important step towards regional co-operation, regional and inter-regional connectivity … with … a unique effort for China'. (12)

While it has been noted the Taliban regard China in relatively friendly diplomatic terms, it would appear the US-backed puppet administrations, even with their huge military presence, have been unable to prevent China from successfully building growing trade relations inside Afghanistan. China has also become its biggest trading partner in recent years and the recent initiatives were announced as enabling Afghanistan to become 'an economic hub' of bigger regional economic development. (13) 

Feasibility studies publicised with the diplomatic statement included reference to Afghanistan being rich in natural resources and possessing an estimated 1,400 types of minerals and ores. Mining was now regarded as possible even though 'none of the mining has been utilised' to date. (14)

In conclusion, it would appear traditional US regional hegemonic positions have well and truly eclipsed; the US appear fully aware their present position in Afghanistan has become untenable. They also appear to have no wish to continue to provide defence and security provision for China's trade relations with Afghanistan.

1.     The Afghanistan Papers – At war with the truth, The Washington Post, 9 December 2019.

2.     Ibid.

3.     Ibid.

4.     Ibid.

5.     Ibid.

6.     Wikipedia: Afghanistan-US Relations, 11 July 2021.

7.     US, NATO troops leave Bagram, The Weekend Australian, 3-4 July 2021.

8.     We owe it to our helpers to save then from certain death, Australian, 7 July 2021; and,
        Taliban enter first provincial capital, Australian, 8 July 2021.

9.     China prepares, The Insider, 9 July 2021; and, Mission accomplished: Biden, The Weekend Australian, 10-11 July 2021.

10.   Afghan security on slide: US chief, Australian, 1 July 2021.

11.   One Belt, One Road, The Daily Outlook (Afghanistan), 3 April 2017.

12.   Ibid.

13.   Wikipedia: Afghanistan-China Relations, 11 July 2021, and, ibid.
        
14.   One Belt, One Road, ibid., 3 April 2017.

On the Australian war crimes in Afghanistan

 Written by: Nick G. on 3 December 2020

Marxist-Leninists hold that there are two types of war – just and unjust. 

Imperialist wars brutalise soldiers of imperialist armies engaged in foreign wars of aggression and occupations.  In contrast, people’s liberation armies fighting just wars are under the leadership and guidance of revolutionary class ideology and organisation serving the people.

Just wars cannot be won by military means alone. They are often waged by weaker and technologically inferior forces which attract the support of the people and can be sustained and led to victory by correct politics. Those correct politics include relations between the armed forces and the people, and also between the armed forces of the just cause and the armed forces of the unjust cause. Captured and wounded soldiers of the unjust army are subjected to education about the two types of war, are persuaded to renounce their support for the unjust, and are treated with leniency.

Unjust wars cannot attract popular support over the longer term.  What support there is evaporates over time. The forces of the unjust cause must rely on military means, and tend to discount winning popular support because of their apparent superiority in strength of arms and other technologies.

Afghanistan – an unjust war

Australia’s longest-running war is its engagement in Afghanistan.  It began in November 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Towers in New York.  The Australian government sent troops to Afghanistan to show its support and subservience to the US as a compliant ally, often referred to as a “puppet” or “deputy sheriff of the US”. Australian soldiers played a support role to the forces of US and other imperialisms.  Those forces invaded Afghanistan in a so-called “war on terrorism”. There was and is a terrorism associated with the reactionary fascist wing on the Islamic religion, but the invasion of Afghanistan by imperialist powers was not a just application of force.  It was unjust from the start, largely motivated by US imperialist ambitions in the region and set the scene for a wave of anti-democratic measures, under the cover of “anti-terrorism”.

The recent report into allegations of war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan was preceded by a report commissioned by the head of the Australian Army, Gen. Angus Campbell, in 2015 following persistent rumours of illegal killings of Afghans by Australians.  Presented to Campbell in 2016, the report by sociologist Dr. Samantha Crompvoets quoted Australian soldiers, who did not want to be identified, who were appalled by the behaviour of fellow soldiers. 

One said that 2012 was the worst he had seen:

“Guys just had this blood lust. Psychos. Absolute psychos. And we bred them. These things do not happen in isolation. They (soldiers) become more confident over time when they are there and these behaviours become permissible and equated with being good and effective soldiers.”

She repeated allegations made by the soldiers she interviewed: when helicopters landed in villages, any villagers running away were fired upon, “killing many of these men and boys (and sometimes women and children) shooting them in the back, while running away.” Other soldiers would take any surviving men and boys “and ‘interrogate’ them, meaning tie them up and torture them…for days and the whole village would be deprived of food, water and medicines…When the Special Forces left, the men and boys would be found dead: shot in the head or blindfolded and with throats slit,’’ she wrote.

One “disturbing example” given by soldier informants occurred when Australian soldiers driving along a road saw two 14-year old boys who they decided might be Taliban sympathisers. “They were stopped and searched and then their throats slit.  The rest of the troop then had to ‘clean up the mess’…the bodies were bagged and thrown in a nearby river.”

It was this report, delivered in 2015 but kept secret at the time, that led Angus Campbell to commission the report into allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. Campbell (now head of all Australian Defence Forces) did that in March 2016.  

In the meantime, David McBride, a former Army lawyer with two tours of duty in Afghanistan, was leaking Australian Defence Force files (the “Afghan Files”) to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC subsequently ran a series of stories alleging Australian war crimes. 

The Australian Government retaliated against McBride and its national broadcaster. In September 2018, McBride was charged with theft of Government property (more charges were subsequently added), while in June 2019, the offices of the ABC were raided by Australian Federal Police (AFP) and all material relating to the Afghan Files seized. In June 2020, the AFP recommended that charges be laid against ABC journalist Dan Oakes.  There was a huge public outcry and the Government was forced to back down from charging Oakes. Charges still remain against the whistleblower McBride.

The heavily redacted (censored, blacked-out) Afghanistan Inquiry Report, also known as the Brereton Report, finds credible evidence of 23 incidents involving 25 current or former ADF personnel accused of killing 39 individuals, with a further two subjected to cruel treatment. However, a further 28 incidents (and 11 more that were discontinued) had found that allegations were not substantiated or could not be proceeded with.

Of those that the Report found to be unsubstantiated, there were 20 allegations of unlawful killings, seven of which involved more than one person. Nine involved case of ill-treatment of prisoners, including assaults and the holding of knives to male genitals.  

Nine of the allegations which were designated as credible were dismissed with no further action required because of the legal principle of derivative use immunity according to which if Soldier X gives information to the Inquiry that he unlawfully killed a prisoner, the information given to the Inquiry by Soldier X (and anything obtained as a direct or indirect consequence) is inadmissible in any prosecution of Soldier X. 

Regardless of the alleged war crimes of Australian troops in the unjust invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, there is culture of a sub-imperialist lackey that has long permeated the Australian armed forces.  With the exception of the War Against Fascism (WW2), every conflict involving Australian troops in imperialist wars has been unjust. The Brereton Report does us all a favour by including an historical review of Australian war crimes (Chapter 1.08 of the Report) from the Boer War to the present day.  There are several examples from WW2, unsurprising given that although the cause was just, the political and military leadership came from the pro-imperialist bourgeoisie.  Australia has sent troops to just about every imperialist war waged by the dominant imperialist power presiding over this county – from the British colonial Boer war to US imperialist wars on Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Fascists and racists are attracted to imperialist military service and encourage a culture in which unjust actions are celebrated. In 2018, photos emerged of Australian troops, in 2007, flying a Nazi flag from their combat vehicle. In June 2020, footage emerged of Australian soldiers holding a racist “Southern Pride” Confederate flag used to guide in a U.S. military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to pick up Afghan prisoners following an Australian-led raid. The ADF immediately denied any knowledge of the incident although the footage was reportedly included in a highlight reel for the Special Air Service Regiment's 3 Squadron following a 2012 deployment to Afghanistan.

Bandaid measures and the necessary prosecution of Australian war criminals aside, Australians must ensure that our country has an independent and peaceful foreign policy, that we make a decisive break with US and other imperialisms, and never again allow Australian armed forces to be sent to support unjust wars.

The whistleblower David McBride should receive the highest of accolades and the shameful and vengeful charges against him be dropped immediately.

Australia’s working people have a long tradition of struggle against imperialist wars, reaching as far back as mass opposition to imperialist WW1 and Conscription; to fascism in WW2 and the Vietnam War.  In the months leading to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 millions of Australians from different walks of life voiced their opposition to Australia sending troops to US planned and led war on Iraq.  In February 2003 one month before the invasion of Iraq over 4000,000 demonstrated in the streets across the country demanding “No War on Iraq”, “No War for Oil”, “No troops to Iraq”.  Many carried signs depicting the then Australian Prime Minister as a puppet of the US. 

No more Australian involvement in imperialist wars!

For anti-imperialist independence and socialism!

 

Afghanistan Pt 2: Lies and psy-ops revealed

Written by: (Contributed) on 21 December 2019

(Above; US-Taiban talks)

A trove of United States government records about military considerations and Afghanistan have shown what observers have long speculated and departments in Washington and the Pentagon denied.

Following the US-led military invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, defence officials used Psychological Warfare Operations (PWOs) or psy-ops, to deliberately convey a misleading and distorted vision of operations to justify the US-led occupation of the country. US-led military planners, however, totally under-estimated the forces in Afghanistan which opposed their presence; they have been unable to achieve any of their original objectives.

The fact the Trump administration is now desperately attempting to establish a lasting peace agreement with the ruling administration in Kabul has shown they want to reduce troop numbers and withdraw as soon as possible before there is greater damage to US credibility.

On 9 December 2019, the Washington Post finally published a story about the US-led military involvement in Afghanistan, following a three-year legal battle to secure access to about two thousand pages of documents regarded by the Pentagon as restricted. (1) The fact the Pentagon hid behind legal technicalities for three years remains proof, in itself, of the military organisation seeking to hide incriminating material. The following day the Australian published three short columns covering the same story, a remarkably brief account given the commitment from Canberra to follow US directives. (2) But then, Canberra would appear to have had no wish to divulge more than the mere basics of information which at the very least cast US imperialism in a very dim light. 

During the period 2001-14, US-led military planning for Operation Enduring Freedom resulted in a coalition of over forty countries, including all NATO members, backing an invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. US military planning for Operation Freedom's Sentinel from 2015 has continued to the present day. There are still an estimated 15,000 US-led troops stationed in the country.

The military documents revealed the Pentagon knew the war they were fighting in Afghanistan was not winnable despite a total of 775,000 US troops being deployed in the country from 2001 to the present day, at an estimated cost of US$934-978 billion. Fatalities, to date, include 2,300 soldiers together with a further 20,589 injured; the estimated costs of the war also do not include medical expenses.   

Behind the scenes the Pentagon deployed Psychological Warfare Techniques or 'psy-ops', to deflect unnecessary attention from the military fiasco which included 'distorted statistics … issued and false statements made by officials from Kabul and Washington to give the impression that progress was being made'. Military officials were held responsible for 'hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable', and used techniques in which 'every dot-point was altered to present the best picture possible'.

The seemingly efficient manner in which the US imperialists were able to manipulate news with distorted and unreliable information about the Afghan war has also thrown light upon their control of the media. The notion of the so-called free press would appear almost meaningless in the context, and the natural outcome has strengthened the old maxim that the first casualty of war is the truth. Coverage of US-led military operations in Afghanistan appears to have been based more on downright lies than sensible journalism.

One US military official, Colonel Robert Crowley, who was a leading figure in the counter-insurgency during the 2013-14 period, was actually quoted in an interview as stating 'truth was rarely welcome', and that 'bad news was often stifled'.

A rare insight into the distorted and perverted thinking of then US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was also included in the trove of documents. He claimed that 'we are never going to get the US military out of Afghanistan unless we take care to see that there is something going on that will provide the stability that will be necessary for us to leave. Help!' It is not difficult, therefore, to observe the very real uses of psy-ops as a means through which senior officials in the Bush administration hid the truth for political expediency and self-preservation.

There is still controversy over the original US-led military aims surrounding the invasion of Afghanistan. While ostensibly it was the outcome of the 9/11 terrorist attack, the fact so many of those in the Bush administration were linked to senior positions in oil and natural gas corporate bodies has led some observers to conclude the US wanted to use Afghanistan as a 'energy bridge' to serve what were deemed as 'US interests'. Natural resources from the former Asia republics of the Soviet Union, rich in oil and natural gas, could be exported by pipeline to port facilities in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Piping the oil and natural gas across the Russian Federation was regarded as potentially problematic.

During the early days of the US-led occupation media releases also publicised a stated intention of establishing a multi-party democracy and market-based economy together with an independent police and military. There were also planned moves to emancipate women through free educational facilities in a country where semi-feudal social relations have historically favoured men.

These pipe-dreams, formulated in Washington-based think-tanks to serve neo-colonial US-interests, have conspicuously failed in a spectacular manner; they will remain forever an example of the so-called New World Order where the US placed itself at the centre of the newly globalised world economy and sought to dictate terms and conditions to sovereign countries to serve 'US interests'. The grandiose idea, more an outcome of megalomania than sensible economic planning, would appear to have serious implications for the people of Afghanistan. The trove of documents, for example, has revealed that US policies fostered 'mass corruption' and actively encouraged the cultivation and production of opium. It is no coincidence Afghanistan is now the biggest producer of the narcotic in the world. (3)

In December last year the Trump administration had talks with the ruling Taliban grouping in Kabul in the United Arab Emirates. For nearly two decades the US-led military operation in Afghanistan was designed to remove the Taliban from power. The US, now however, is desperate to seek a peaceful solution so as to withdraw 4,000 troops and recognise the ruling administration in Kabul. (4) In reality they do not have any other option. Further talks took place in February this year hosted by Qatar. To date, nevertheless, the US-led occupation of Afghanistan has continued: an estimated 300 Australian Defence Force personnel are also based in the country under Pentagon command.

There has been, to date, a notable lack of any open political discussion in Canberra or elsewhere about the Australian role in the US-led fiasco in Afghanistan. Just what had Australia, as a country, to gain from military involvement in Afghanistan?

And those in senior positions in Washington and the Pentagon clearly do not want any publicity about the problem; their sycophants in Canberra are only too pleased to oblige and stifle publicity here.                                    

We need an independent foreign policy!

1.     At War with the truth, The Washington Post, 9 December 2019.
2.     US public lied to about Afghan war, Australian, 10 December 2019.
3.     See also https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47861444
4.     Bid to drag Bolton into impeachment probe, Australian, 17 December 2019.