Afghans mark Independence Day with anti-occupation protests

By Derrick O'Keefe

Rabble.ca – August 19, 2010 marks 91 years since Afghanistan gained its freedom from the British empire, following three bloody wars of independence. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has issued a video statement to mark the occasion. It's worth watching or reading the text in full, if only to appreciate the new empire's irony-laden platitudes.

This August 19th, on behalf of President Obama and the American people, I want to congratulate the people of Afghanistan on 91 years of independence.

This is an occasion to celebrate the freedom your nation achieved more than nine decades ago – a proud moment in your long and rich history. It is also a chance to look to the future – a future that people across Afghanistan are working hard to build, in partnership with citizens from many nations, joined together in a shared vision of a secure, stable, and prosperous Afghanistan.

I had the honor of visiting Afghanistan last month – the fifth visit I've made in my lifetime and my second as Secretary of State. And every time I return, I'm reminded of the warmth of the Afghan people and the resilience that you show in the face of great challenges. I have seen for myself the progress that you've been making and that we've been honored to support you in doing – one street at a time, one community at a time – promoting peace and planting the seeds for long-term progress.

The people of the United States share a stake in your future. So we are proud to join you today in celebrating your past. But more importantly, as we extend to you our best wishes for a happy and safe Independence Day, to send you our strong support, our partnership and our friendship for all of the years ahead. Thank you very much.

Of course for almost nine years now the US-led occupation has denied freedom and independence to the people of Afghanistan. Whatever sheen of consent and legitimacy the US/NATO project once had is now long gone. Wikileaks has just confirmed for the rest of us some of the reality that Afghans have been facing: year after year of increases in troops and overall violence, and a special forces war running rampant on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

I reached Malalai Joya [a MP in Afghanistan and an anti-Taliban, anti-occupation activist] somewhere in Kabul yesterday over a crackling phone line. She informed me that Afghans would be marking their August 19 independence day by protesting against the NATO occupation. She explained that for security reasons she would be personally unable to attend, but that she knew of supporters planning to take part in anti-occupation protests in Jalalabad. As the New York Times reports, residents there have already been taking the streets in response to the type of brutality that puts the lie to Clinton's goodwill message. The conflicting casuality reports are now very familiar to anyone remotely paying attention to media coverage of the war: 

The disputed raid occurred early Wednesday in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar Province, about nine miles from Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan. It was at least the third raid in the district in four months, and in each, the military’s account and that of local people have been sharply at odds, with local residents insisting that those killed were civilians and the military asserting that there were Taliban present.

Hundreds of suburban residents of Jalalabad blocked its main east-west highway on Wednesday to protest the killings.

Local residents said that the two men killed were both civilians, while a NATO military spokesman said that they had been shot by American troops only after opening fire themselves...

Meanwhile, the propaganda war continues. TIME magazine's cover story about Afghan women earlier this summer has been widely discussed and debated. Long-time correspondent Ann Jones and others have called into question the veracity of the narrative, while a number of organisations explained the real political and historical context of Afghan women and the war.

One noteworthy statement, which I was happy to sign, was issued by the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI). I hope this statement (below) makes the rounds of the networks that make up the mostly dormant US anti-war movement. It's well past time to shake off the slumber induced by Obama and seriously mobilise for an end to this war. That would be the least we could do for Afghans, who continue to show resilience "in the face of so many challenges" by fighting for a true and lasting independence from foreign domination.

'What happens if we stay in Afghanistan': A response to TIME magazine

The August 9, 2010, issue of TIME magazine featured a striking cover photograph of an 18-year-old Afghan woman, Aisha, who was disfigured by the Taliban last year. The cover title read, "What happens if we leave Afghanistan". While Aisha's story and the stories of many other women like her may depict some part of the reality of women's lives under the Taliban, TIME's conclusion that continuing the US occupation of Afghanistan is necessary is highly misleading and troubling.

Afghan women, like women around the world, have lived under very oppressive conditions for decades. Many women remain indoors, without education or health care, or economic security, have early marriages, and are unprotected from domestic violence. Today, after a decade of the US-led occupation, the lives of Afghan women have become worse, not better: in addition to facing continued oppression under the Taliban and the equally oppressive Northern Alliance, they also live in a war zone.

TIME's statement echoes and resurrects the same justification for the war given during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan: if US forces withdraw from Afghanistan, any rights gained for Afghan women will be reversed by fundamentalist forces. However, this false logic grossly ignores the history of the US imperialist relationship and presence in the region and its effect on women's rights. During the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, the US armed the anti-Soviet Mujahideen forces, who were at one point led by Osama Bin Laden. In subsequent years the Taliban rose to power, with the United States as its ally. In 2001, when the Bush administration sought to topple the Taliban regime, the United States armed and enlisted the help of the Northern Alliance, a coalition of warlords with its own track record of human rights abuses. Indeed, the United States has consistently chosen the side of fundamentalist allies at the expense of Afghan women, and has always sought its own gains in the region.

In its nine long years, the US-led occupation of Afghanistan has done nothing to improve the conditions for people in Afghanistan, especially for women. As the classified documents recently leaked by WikiLeaks.org corroborate, the coalition forces have been killing hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the 2009 civilian death toll, close to 2412 civilian deaths, was the highest of any year since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, and an increase of 24% from 2008. There has been a general increase in violence and civilian deaths because of occupation. A Human Rights Watch Press Alert in 2005 stated that up to 60% of law makers in the lower house of Afghanistan's newly elected parliament are directly or indirectly connected to human rights abuses. By 2009, the UN human development index ranked Afghanistan 181 out of 182 countries. The maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan reveals the highest ever documented. Over the past decade, the immensely corrupt, US-backed Afghan regime led by Hamid Karzai has passed and maintained numerous misogynist laws, including the one that put Aisha in jail after she fled from her in-laws.

For the last decade, the occupying forces of the US and its NATO allies have nourished warlords and supported a corrupt government, leading many to join the Taliban and increasing their influence across Afghanistan. Increased civilian deaths, a fundamentalist resurgence, and deadly bombing raids have led to a devastated country and a Taliban stronger than ever before. TIME's claim to "illuminate what is actually happening on the ground" falsely equates the last decade of occupation with progress. The occupation has not and will not bring democracy to Afghanistan, nor will it bring liberation to Afghan women. Instead, it has exacerbated deep-seated corruption in the government, the widespread abuse of women's rights and human rights by fundamentalists, including Karzai's allies, and stymied critical infrastructure development in the country. The question should not be "what happens if we leave Afghanistan", the question should be "what happened when we invaded Afghanistan" and "what happens if we stay in Afghanistan".

The Afghan people are capable of creating their own democratic future. Progressive groups and democratic parties in Afghanistan are fighting to reconstruct the peace and safety of their country, and more often than not, are forced underground for fear of their safety. Despite the repression from the US-backed Karzai government, thousands of brave students and women have come out on to the streets of Kabul to protest the bombings and the continued war. It is from these forces that a larger progressive movement will emerge that could play a role in bringing real democracy to Afghanistan. If the United States continues the occupation, the space for progressive forces becomes increasingly limited.

We must know and remember, that liberation never comes from occupation. We must know and remember, that there will always be resistance to occupation. Occupations, no matter where they take place, from Iraq to Palestine to Turtle Island, are unjust. The American people must come out in support and solidarity with the resilient peoples of Afghanistan and elsewhere who are fighting for their own liberation, and must call for the end of all US wars and occupations.

[The South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI) is an organization based the United States that is in solidarity with progressive social movements and democratic politics in South Asia. We believe in the shared history and common struggles of South Asia and break from the confines of nation-states to carry forward an alternative vision for South Asia and its peoples.]

Initial signatories

South Asia Solidarity Initiative
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Derrick O'Keefe, co-writer of the autobiography Malalai Joya – A Woman Among Warlords
Veterans For Peace
Courage to Resist
Anjali Kamat, producer, Democracy Now!
Robert Jensen, University of Texas, Austin, TX

[This article first appeared at Derrick O'Keefe's column at Rabble.ca. O'Keefe is the co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance, the country's largest network of anti-war groups, and a coordinating member of the Vancouver StopWar.ca Coalition. He is co-writer of Afghan MP Malalai Joya's political memoir, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice. Derrick served as rabble.ca's editor from 2007 to 2009.]