Terror in the name of “war against terror”

For six years now, US and NATO forces, after occupying Afghanistan militarily, have been carrying on a no holds barred savage war, against the resistance forces of that country. Tens of thousands of civilians including children, women and old people have been killed in this “war against terrorism”. It is against this backdrop that even legislators of the parliament set up under the aegis of the occupation forces have reportedly adopted a bill calling for truce and talks with the Taliban and setting a time–table for withdrawal of US–led NATO troops.

NATO and US forces, for all their superior armament and technological sophistication, have not been able to even militarily secure the country outside Kabul and other big towns. Though armed to the teeth, their forces are not able to match the fighting skills and tenacity of the local fighters. They often resort to aerial bombing of the ‘rebel’ positions, causing thousands of “collateral” deaths. In May 2007, for example, US air strikes in Hemland province, southwest of Kabul, have caused at least 21 civilian deaths mostly women and children, according to the governor of Hemland himself. Other sources put the number of deaths at 50. According to Al Jazeera, it is this incident which prompted the Afghan legislators to approve the bill on May 9, 2007, calling for truce and talks with the Taliban. The bill also said that military action (by NATO and US forces) should only be used in self–defense and also calls for a date to be set for the withdrawal of US-led and NATO troops. Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, widely regarded as a puppet figure of the US imperialists, has also had to tell the foreign forces in his country to “take more care in battle situations”.

In another incident in Herat in April 2007, UN investigators found that at least 50 civilians had been killed, though NATO itself denied any knowledge of the air raid! Colonel John Nicholson, a US brigade commander, publicly apologised to family members of 19 Afghans killed and 50 injured by US forces in yet another incident more than two months ago. “I stand before you today deeply, deeply ashamed and terribly sorry that Americans have killed and wounded innocent Afghan people,” Nicholson is reported to have told the family members. “This was a terrible, terrible mistake, and my nation grieves with you for your loss and suffering. We humbly ask for your respect and forgiveness”.

Almost six years ago, in the aftermath of the incidents of September 11, 2001 in the US, imperialist chieftain Bush commenced the “war on terror”. Afghanistan and its people were the first victims of this war which has caused tens of thousands of deaths of innocents. Though the imperialists entered Afghanistan in the guise of “saviours” of the people to rescue them from an allegedly puritanical and oppressive regime, events have exposed them in front of the Afghan people and the rest of humankind. All over the world, from Canada in North America to Kabul, from the UK to Karachi, the call for the NATO and US forces to quit is growing stronger with every passing day.