The Bush administration made a catastrophic mistake in Afghanistan in 2001 / Afghanistan: The End of the Occupation

By Dilip -

At a U.S. Special Forces camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on December 5, 2001, the Taliban offered an unconditional surrender. Furthermore, they would disband and disarm: a military force would no longer exist. George W. Bush ignored the offer and continued attacking the Taliban until the end of his term. If only in self-defense the Taliban fought back, eventually regaining the battlefield initiative. Barack Obama fought the Taliban for eight years more. Donald Trump did so for the next four....

 https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/taliban-surrender/

Afghanistan: The End of the Occupation

A lot of nonsense about Afghanistan is being written in Britain and the United States. Most of this nonsense hides a number of important truths.

First, the Taliban have defeated the United States.

Second, the Taliban have won because they have more popular support.

Third, this is not because most Afghans love the Taliban. It is because the American occupation has been unbearably cruel and corrupt.

Fourth, the War on Terror has also been politically defeated in the United States. The majority of Americans are now in favor of withdrawal from Afghanistan and against any more foreign wars.

Fifth, this is a turning point in world history. The greatest military power in the world has been defeated by the people of a small, desperately poor country. This will weaken the power of the American empire all over the world.

Sixth, the rhetoric of saving Afghan women has been widely used to justify the occupation, and many feminists in Afghanistan have chosen the side of the occupation. The result is a tragedy for feminism…

https://annebonnypirate.org/2021/08/17/afghanistan-the-end-of-the-occupation/?fbclid=IwAR3NfNNRdV2uOOD0ZTxoYV5YwOo69hjDln8-RCgdUaPAPUXyaCmd1qv3liQ

Chris Hedges: The Collective Suicide Machine


Tom Engelhardt: Biden's indirect admission highlights the steady decline of American empire


Guantanamo Bay - President Obama's shame: The forgotten prisoners of America's own Gulag


Book review: AFGHANISTAN: ‘A SHOCKING INDICTMENT’


The CIA's Intervention in Afghanistan: Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paris, 15-21 January 1998


Conversation with Lawrence Lifschultz: The American reporter who investigated the assassination of Mujibur Rahman


"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever" - George Orwell’s Final Warning

 

George Monbiot - Asymmetric force: Pegasus spyware is the latest tool autocrats are using to stay in power


Chauncey DeVega: Trump is mentally ill but our real sickness runs much deeper


America isn't breaking. It was already broken. By Andrew Gawthorpe // Why This Time Is Different. By Dahlia Lithwick


TOM ENGELHARDT: A World at the Edge


Alfred McCoy: The crumbling delusion of Washington's endless world dominion


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